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Superstitions of the highlands & islands
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SUPERSTITIONS OF THE
HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND
PUBLISHED BY
JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS, GLASGOW,
^ntilisheis to the Snibeistts.
MACMILLAN AND CO., LONDON AND NEW YORK.
London, Sifitpkin, Hamilton and Co.
Cambridge, - Macmitian and Bo^es.
Edinburgh, - Douglas and Foiilis.
Superstitions
of the
Highlands ^ Islands of Scotland
Collected entirely from Oral Sources
By
John Gregorson Campbell
Minister of Tiree
Glasgow
James MacLehose and Sons
Publishers to the University
1900
GLASGOW : PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
BY ROBERT JVIACLEHOSE AND CO.
Jr
EDITOR'S NOTE.
This volume is the result of many years' labour by
the late Rev. JOHN Gregorson Campbell, while
minister of Tiree during the years 1861 — to 1891.
Much of the material was already collected before
Mr. J. F. Campbell of Islay published his Popular Tales
of the West Highlands in i860, and readers of Lord
Archibald Campbell's volumes on Waifs and Strays of
Celtic Tradition are already acquainted with the
valuable work contributed to that series by the Rev.
J. Gregorson Campbell.
It is hoped that this volume on the Superstitions of
the Scottish Highlands, full as it is of racy stories, may
throw fresh light on an extremely interesting subject.
The MS. of a corresponding work by the same author
•on Witchcraft and Second-Sight in the West Highlands,
is in the editor's hands, and in the event of the present
"work meeting with the reception which the editor
vi EDITOR'S NOTE.
thinks it deserves, the volume on Witchcraft will be
published next year.
Mrs. Wallace, Hynish, Tiree, the author's sister, has
kindly read the proofs.
August, 1900.
PREFACE.
The object aimed at in the following pages is to put
before the reader a statement, as complete and accurate
as the writer can attain to, of the Superstitions and
Antiquities of the Scottish Highlands and Islands.
In other words, the writer has endeavoured to gather
full materials relating to that subject, and to arrange
them in a form that may prove of some scientific value.
In pursuit of this object, it has been deemed ad-
visable to derive information solely from oral sources.
Books have been purposely avoided as authorities, and
a rule has been laid down, and strictly adhered to,
not to accept any statement in print regarding a
Highland belief, unless also found current among the
people. In the few books there are, having any refer-
ence to Gaelic lore, the statements have been so
frequently found at variance with popular beliefs that
this rule has been a necessity. There are a ' few
viii PREFACE
honourable exceptions, but in general what is to be
found in print on this subject is not trustworthy.
A want of acquaintance with the Gaelic language
or with Highland feelings and modes of thought, is
usually the cause of error. The writers think in
English, and are not careful to eliminate from their
statements thoughts derived from English or classical
literature, or to keep from confusing with Celtic
beliefs ideas derived from foreign sources, and from
analogous creeds existing elsewhere. This gives an
unconscious tinge to their statements, and (what is
more to be regretted) sometimes makes them fill up
with extraneous and foreign elements what seems to
them gaps or blanks in beliefs they but imperfectly
understand.
The writer's information has been derived from
widely separated districts in the North, West, and
Central Highlands, and from the Islands. Naturally,
the bulk of the information was obtained in Tiree,
where the writer had most opportunity of making
inquiries, but information from this or any other source
has not been accepted without comparison with the
same beliefs in other districts. The writer has not
been able personally to visit all parts of the High-
lands, but his informants have spent their lives in
PREFACE ix
districts far apart. The reader will fall into a mis-
take who supposes that the whole information is
within the belief, or even knowledge, of any one
individual, or of any one district.
The beliefs of one district do not differ essentially
from those of another. In one or two cases several
versions of a tale are given to show to some extent
the nature of the variations of popular tradition.
The writer has thankfully to acknowledge, and he
cannot but remember with pleasure, the readiness and
courtesy, and in very many cases the great intelligence
with which his inquiries have been answered. Some
of his informants have shown a quickness and reten-
tiveness of memory which he could not but envy,
and an appreciation of, and an acquaintance with
ancient lore that seemed to him to indicate in those
who were strangers to the world of letters powers of
mind of a high order.
The objection to books and print as authorities has
also been extended to written correspondence. No
doubt much that is additional and interesting could
be obtained through these channels, but if the account
given is to serve any purpose higher than that of
mere amusement, strict accuracy is of such importance
that all these sources of possible error have been
X PREFACE
avoided ; they cannot be sifted by cross-examination
and further inquiry so readily or thoroughly as infor-
mation obtained by word of mouth. The whole has
thus passed through the writer's own hands directly
from what he has found current among the people.
Care has been taken that no statement be made con-
veying an idea different in the slightest from what
has been heard. A popular Gaelic saying can be
quoted as applicable to the case : " If it be a lie as
told by me, it was a lie as told to me " {Ma's breug
bh'uam. e, is breug dhomh e). It is as free to another
as it has been to the writer, to draw his inferences
from the statements given, and it is thought no
genuine tale or oral tradition will be found to contradict
the statements made in the following pages.
In the translations given of Gaelic, the object aimed
at has been to give the corresponding English ex-
pression, that is, one conveying the same meaning to the
English reader that the Gaelic expression conveys to
the Gaelic reader. Accuracy has been looked to on
this point rather than grace of diction. Where there
is anything striking in the Gaelic idiom the literal
meaning is also given. In poetry there is conse-
quently a baldness, to which the original is a stranger ;
but this, it may be urged, is a fault inherent in all
V
\
PREFACE xi
translations, however carefully executed. The trans-
ference of ideas from one language to another weakens
the force and beauty of an expression ; what is racy
and witty, or musical and expressive in one, becomes
tame and insipid in another. This trite observation
is made to deprecate unfavourable opinions being
formed of the genius and force of the Gaelic language
from the translations given.
\
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
The Fairies
PAGE
Names Given to Fairies 3
The Size of Fairies 9
Fairy Dwellings 1 1
Fairy Dresses 14
The Defects of Fairies 15
Their Occupations 15
Seasons of Festivity 16
Fairy Raids 18
Circumstances under which Fairies are seen 21
Fairy Food 21
Gifts Bestowed by Fairies 22
The Giving and taking of Loans 24
Eddy Wind 24
Rain and Sunshine, Wind and Rain 26
Fairy Arrows 26
Cattle 27
Horses 30
Dogs 30
Elfin Cats 32
xiii
CONTENTS
Fairy Theft
32
Stealing Women and Children
36
Changelings
38
Deformities
39
Nurses
40
The Men of Peace
40
The Bean Nighe, or Washing Woman
42
The Song of the Fairy Woman
44
The Glaistig as distinct from the Banshi
44
Elfin Queen
45
Protection against Fairies
46
CHAPTER II
Tales Illustrative of Fairy Superstition
Luran 52
The Cup of the Macleods of Raasa 57
The Fairies on Finla^s Sandbank 57
Pennygown Fairies 59
Ben Lomond Fairies 60
Callum Clark and his Sore Leg 60
The Young Man in the Fairy Knoll 61
Black Wilham the Piper 65
The Harris Woman and her Baking 66
Lifted by the Fairies 68
Fairies Coming to Houses 73
The Lowland Fairies 76
Fairies Stealing Women and Children 78
Ready Wit Repulses the Fairies 85
Kindness to a Neglected Child 86
The Bridegroom's Burial _ 86
The Crowing of the Black Cock 87
Throwing the Arrow 88
The Woman Stolen from France 90
CONTENTS
PAGE
Changelings
90
Taking away Cows and Sheep
92
The Dwellings of the Fairies
93
Fairy Assistance
96
The Battle of Trai-Gruinard
100
Duine Sith, Man of Peace
101
Bean Shith, EUe Woman, or Woman of Peace
102
Donald Thrashed by the Fairy Woman
105
lona Banshi
107
Tiree Banshi
108
Macphie's Black Dog
109
The Carlin of the Spotted Hill
122
Donald, Son of Patrick
123
The Wife of Ben-y-Ghloe
125
Fairy Women and Deer
126
O'Cronicert's Fairy Wife
127
The Gruagach Ban
132
Deer Killed and conveyed home at Night
133
Fairies and Goats
134
Fairies and Cows
134
Fairy Cows
135
The Thirsty Ploughman
137
The Fairy Churning
137
Milk Spilt by Dairymaids
138
Fairy Music
138
MacCrimmon
139
Fairy Dogs ('Cu Sith')
141
What happens to Dogs Chasing Fairies
144
Fairies and Horses
146
Fairies and the Handmill
149
Fairies and Oatmeal
150
Fairies and Iron
152
Name of the Deity
153
Fairy Gifts
153
Struck by the Fairy Arrow Spade
154
CONTENTS
CHAPTER III
Tutelary Beings
PAGE
(I) The Glaistig
155
At Glenduroi-
162
At Sron-Charmaig
162
At Inverawe House
164
At Dunstaffnage Castle
164
In Tiree
165
At Sleat, Skye
165
In the Island of Coll
166
At DunoUy Castle
166
At Mernaig Castle
166
In Strathglass
167
At Lianachan
168
In Glenorchy
171
M'Millan of Knap stabbing the Glaistig
172
At Craignish
173
On Garlics, Morvern
173
At Ardnadrochit, Mull
I7S
On Baugh, Tiree
176
On Hianish, Tiree
177
At Strontian
177
In Ulva
178
In lona
179
In Ross, Mull
179
In Corry-na-Henchor
180
Mac-Ian Year
181
At Erray, Mull
183
(II) The Gruagach
184
(III) Brownie
186
Gunna
189
The Old Man of the Barn
190
CONTENTS
CHAPTER IV
The Urisk, The Blue Men, and
The Mermaid
PAGE
The Urisk 195
The Blue Men 199
The Mermaid 201
CHAPTER V
The Water-Horse
Farmers and Water-Horses 204
Mac-Fir Arois 205
The Talking Horse at Cru-Loch 207
Island of Coll 208
The Nine Children at Sunart 208
Killing the Raasay Water-Horse 209
The Water-Horse at Loch Cuaich 210
The Water-Horse at Tiree 211
Water-Horse and Women 212
The Water-Horse at Loch Basibol, Tiree 214
The Kelpie 215
The Water-Bull 216
The King Otter 216
Biasd na Srogaig 217
The Big Beast of Lochawe 218
i ' CONTENTS
CHAPTER VI
Superstitions about Animals
PAGE
Lamprey — Sea Serpent — Gigelorum — Lavellan —
Bernicle Goose — Eels — Whale — Herring —
Flounder— Lobster— Serpents— Rats and Mice-
Cormorant — Magpie —Beetles — Emmet— Skip
Jack 219-228
CHAPTER VII
Miscellaneous Superstitions
Gisvagun, Eapagun, Upagun 229
The Right-Hand Turn (Deiseal) 229
Rising and Dressing 230
Clothes 231
Houses and Lands 231
Baking 232
Removal Cheese (Mulchag Imrich) 234
Leg Cake (Bonnach Lurgainn) 234
Giving Fire out of the House 234
Thunder 235
Theft 236
Salt 236
Combing the Hair 236
Bird Nests 237
Hen's First Egg 237
Euphemisms 237
Boat Language 239
Fresh Meat 240
Killing those too long alive 240
Funerals
241
The Watch of the Graveyard (Faire Chlaidh) 242
CONTENTS
Suicides
242
Murder
243
The Harvest Old Wife (a Chailleach)
243
La u Bhrochain mhor (Big Porridge Day)
244
Fires on Headlands
244
Stances
244
Names
245
Delivery of Cattle and Horses
245
Trades
246
Iron
246
Empty Shells
247
Protection against Evil Spirits
247
Misnaming a Person
248
Gaining Straw (Sop Seile)
248
Propitious Times
248
Unlucky Actions
249
CHAPTER VIII
Augury
At Outset of a Journey
Unlucky to look back
253
255
CHAPTER IX
Premonitions and Divination
Premonitions (Meamna) 258
Trial (Deuchaiun) 259
Divination (Fiosachd) 262
Shoulder-blade Reading (Slinneaneachd) 263
Palmistry (Dearnadaireachd) 266
Divination by Tea, or Cup-reading (Leughadh
Chupaichean) 266
CONTENTS
CHAPTER X
Dreams and Prophecies
PAGE
Dreams (Bruardair) 268
Prophecies (Fkisneachd) 269
The Lady of Lawers 274
CHAPTER XI
Imprecations, Spells, and the Black Art
Imprecation (Guidhe) 277
Spells (Geasan no Geasaibh) 281
The Black Art 285
CHAPTER XII
The Devil
Card Playing 292
Red Book of Appin 292
Coming for the Dying 295
Making the Devil your Slave 296
Coming Misfortune 298
The Gaick Catastrophe (Mort Ghkthaig) 300
The Bundle of Fern 303
The Pig in the Indigo Pot 303
Among the Tailors 304
Taghairm, or "Giving his Supper to the Devil" 304
Glas Ghairm — Power of Opening Locks 311
CHAPTER I.
THE FAIRIES.i
In any account of Gaelic superstition and popular
belief, the first and most prominent place is to be
assigned to the Fairy or Elfin people, or, as they are
called both in Irish and Scottish Gaelic, the sith
people, that is, ' the people of peace,' the ' still folk,' or
' silently-moving ' people. The antiquity of the belief
is shown by its being found among all branches of
the Celtic and Teutonic families, and in countries
which have not, within historical times, had any com-
munication with each other. If it be not entirely of
Celtic origin, there can be no doubt that among the
Celtic races it acquired an importance and iniluence
accorded to it nowhere else. Of all the beings, with
which fear or fancy peopled the supernatural, the
Fairies were the most intimately associated with men's
daily life. In the present day, when popular poetical
' The words Elfin and Fairy are, in these pages, used indifferently as
equivalents of the Gaelic names, sith (or shi) people, etc.
A
2 THE FAIRIES.
ideas are extinguished in the universal call for " facts
and by " cold material laws," it is hard to understand
how firm a hold a belief like this had upon men in
a more primitive state of society, and how unwillingly
it is surrendered.
Throughout the greater part of the Highlands of
Scotland the Fairies have become things of the past.
A common belief is that they existed once, though
they are not now seen. There are others to whom
the elves have still a real existence, and who are
careful to take precautions against them. The changes,
which the Highlands are undergoing, have made the
traces of the belief fainter in some districts than in
others, and in some there remains but a confused
jumbling of all the superstitions. It would be difficult
to find a person who knows the whole Fairy creed,
but the tales of one district are never contradictory
of those of another. They are rather to be taken as
supplemental of each other, and it is by comparison
and such supplementing that the following statement has
been drawn out. It is thought that it will not be found
at variance with any genuine Highland Fairy Tale.
The Fairies, according to the Scoto-Celtic belief, are
a race of beings, the counterparts of mankind in person,
occupations, and pleasures, but unsubstantial and un-
real, ordinarily invisible, noiseless in their motions,
and having their dwellings underground, in hills and
green mounds of rock or earth. They are addicted to
THEIR NAMES. 3
visiting the haunts of men, sometimes to give assist-
ance, but more frequently to take away the benefit
of their goods and labours, and sometimes even their
persons. They may be present in any company,
though mortals do not see them. Their interference
is never productive of good in the end, and may
prove destructive. Men cannot therefore be sufficiently
on their guard against them.
NAMES GIVEN" TO FAIRIES.
The names by which these dwellers underground
are known are mostly derivative from the word sith
(pronounced shee). As a substantive (in which sense
it is ordinarily used) sith means ' peace,' and, as an
adjective, is applied solely to objects of the super-
natural world, particularly to the Fairies and whatever
belongs to them. Sound is a natural adjunct of the
motions of men, and its entire absence is unearthly,
unnatural, not human. The name sith without doubt
refers to the ' peace ' or silence of Fairy motion, as
contrasted with the stir and noise accompanying the
movements and actions of men. The German ' still
folk ' is a name of corresponding import. The Fairies
come and go with noiseless steps, and their thefts or
abductions are done silently and unawares to men.
The wayfarer resting beside a stream, on raising his
eyes, sees the Fairy woman, unheard in her approach,
standing on the opposite bank. Men know the Fairies
4 THE FAIRIES.
have visited their houses only by the mysterious dis-
appearance of the substance of their goods, or the
sudden and unaccountable death of any of the inmates
or of the cattle. Sometimes the elves are seen entering
the house, gliding silently round the room, and going
out again as noiselessly as they entered. When driven
away they do not go off with tramp and noise, and
sounds of walking such as men make, or melt into
thin air, as spirits do, but fly away noiselessly like
birds or hunted deer. They seem to glide or float
along rather than to walk. Hence the name sUhche
and its synonyms are often applied contemptuously
to a person who sneaks about or makes his approach
without warning. Sometimes indeed the elves make
a rustling noise like that of a gust of wind, or a silk
gown, or a sword drawn sharply through the air, and
their coming and going has been even indicated by
frightful and unearthly shrieks, a pattering as of a
flock of sheep, or the louder trampling of a troop of
horses. Generally, however, their presence is indi-
cated at most by the cloud of dust raised by the
eddy wind, or by some other curious natural pheno-
menon, by the illumination of their dwellings, the
sound of their musical instruments, songs, or speech.
For the same reason slth is applied not merely to
what is Fairy, but to wha,tever is Fairy-like, unearthly,
not of this world. Of this laxer use of the term the
following may be given as illustrations :
THEIR NAMES. 5
Breac shith, ' Elfin pox,' hives, are spots that appear
on the skin in certain diseases, as hooping-cough, and
indicate a highly malignant stage of the malady. They
are not ascribed to the Fairies, but are called skk,
because they appear and again disappear as it were
'silently,' without obvious cause, and more mysteriously
than other symptoms. Cows, said to have been found
on the shores of Loscantire in Harris, Scorrybrec in
Skye, and on the Island of Bernera, were called cro sith,
' fairy cows,' simply because they were of no mortal
breed, but of a kind believed to live under the sea on
meillich, seaweed. Animals in the shape of cats, but in
reality witches or demons, were called cait shlth, ' Elfin
cats,' and the Water Horse, which has no connection
whatever with the elves, is sometimes called each sith, un-
earthly horse. The cuckoo is an eun sith, a ' Fairy bird,'
because, as is said, its winter dwelling is underground.
A banner in the possession of the family of Macleod,
of Macleod of Skye, is called 'Macleod's Fairy Banner'
{Bratach shlth MhicLeoid), on account of the supernatural
powers ascribed to it. When unfurled, victory in war
{buaidh chogaidh) attends it, and it relieves its followers
from imminent danger.^ Every pregnant woman who
sees it is taken in premature labour (a misfortune which
happened, it is said, to the English wife of a former
* These virtues it is to have only thrice, and it has been already unfiirled
twice. Many of the common people wanted it brought out at the time of
the potato failure.
6 THE FAIRIES.
chief in consequence of her irrepressible curiosity to see
the banner), and every cow casts her calf {cha bhi bean
no bo nach tilg a laogh). Others, however, say the
name is owing to the magic banner having been got
from an Elfin sweetheart.
A light, seen among the Hebrides, a sort of St.
Elmo's light or Will-of-the-wisp, is called teine sith,
'Fairy light,' though no one ever blamed the Fairies as
the cause of it. In a semi-satirical song, of much
merit for its spirit and ease of diction, composed in
Tiree to the owner of a crazy skiff that had gone to the
Ross of Mull for peats and staid too long, the bard, in
a spirited description of the owner's adventures and
seamanship, says : —
" Onward past Greenock,
Like the deer of the cold high hills,
Breasting the rugged ground
With the hunter in pursuit ;
She sailed with Fairy motion^
Bounding smoothly in her pride,
Cleaving the green waves,
And passing to windward of the rest." ^
1 Fairy motion, i.e. not rising and falling on the waves, but gliding
smoothly along.
- " Seachad air Grianaig,
Mar fhiadh nam beann fuara,
Direadh ri uchd garbhlaich,
'S an sealgair ga ruagadh,
Ise is siubhal, sith aice,
Slnteagan uallach,
Sgoltadh nan tonn uaine
'S a fuaradh air chach."
Long aig Galium MacShlomain.
THEIR NAMES. 7
This latitude in the use of the word has led soiiie
writers on the subject to confound with the Fairies
beings having as little connection with them as with
mankind. A similar laxness occurs in the use of the
English word Fairy. It is made to include kelpies,
mermaids, and other supernatural beings, having no
connection with the true Fairy, or Elfin race.
The following are the names by which the ' Folk '
are known in Gaelic. It is observable that every one
of the names, when applied to mortals, is contemptuous
and disparaging.
Sithche (pronounced sheeche) is the generic and
commonest term. It is a noun of common gender,
and its plural is sithchean (sheechun). In Graham's
Highlands of Perthshire, a work more than once quoted
by Sir Walter Scott, but unreliable as an authority, this
word is written shi'ich.
Sireach, plur. sirich, also sibhrich, is a provincial term ;
an siriche du, ' the black elf,' i.e. the veriest elf
Sithbheire (pronounced sheevere), a masculine noun,
is mostly applied to changelings, or the elf substituted
for children and animals taken by the Fairies. Applied
to men it is very contemptuous.
Siochaire is still more so. Few expressions of scorn are
more commonly applied to men than siochaire grannda,
" ugly slink."
Duine sith (plur. daoine slth), ' a man of peace, a
noiselessly moving person, a fairy, an elf ' ; fem. Bean
8 THE FAIRIES.
shlth (gen. mna slth, plur. mnathan sith, gen. plur. with
the article nam ban skltk), ' a woman of peace, an Ella
woman,' are names that include the whole Fairy race.
Bean shith has become naturalized in English under the
form Banshi. The term was introduced from Ireland,
but there appears no reason to suppose the Irish belief
different from that of the Scottish Highlands. Any
seeming difference has arisen since the introduction of
the Banshi to the literary world, and from the too free
exercise of imagination by book-writers on an im-
perfectly understood tradition.
The leannan slth, ' fairy sweetheart, familiar spirit,'
might be of either sex. The use of this word by the
translators of the Bible into Gaelic is made a great
handle of by the common people, to prove from
Scripture that Fairies actually exist. The Hebrew
word so translated is rendered ' pythons ' by the
Vulgate, and ' consulters of the spirits of the dead '
by modern scholars. Those said to have familiar
spirits were probably a class of magicians, who pre-
tended to be media of communication with the spirit
world, their 'familiar' making himself known by sounds
muttered from the ground through the instrumentality,
as the Hebrew name denotes, of a skin bottle.
Brugkadair, ' a person from a brugh, or fairy dwell-
ing,' applied to men, means one who does a stupid
or senseless action.
Other names are sluagh, ' folk, a multitude ' ; sluagh
THEIR NAMES. 9
eutrom, ' light folk ' ; and daoine beaga, ' little men,'
from the number and small size ascribed to the elves.
Daoine Cbire, ' honest folk,' had its origin in a desire
to give no unnecessary offence. The ' folk ' might be
listening, and were pleased when people spoke well of
them, and angry when spoken of slightingly. In this
respect they are very jealous. A wise man will not
unnecessarily expose himself to their attacks, for,
' Better is a hen's amity than its enmity' {S'fkearr sith
ciree na h-ahnhreif). The same feeling made the Irish
Celt call them daoine niatha, ' good people,' and the
lowland Scot ' gude neighbours.'
THE SIZE OF FAIRIES.
The difference in size ascribed to the race, though
one of the most remarkable features in the superstition,
and lying on its surface, has been taken little notice
of by writers. At one time the elves are small enough
to creep through key-holes, and a single potato is as
much as one of them can carry ; at another they re-
semble mankind, with whom they form alliances, and
to whom they hire themselves as servants ; while some
are even said to be above the size of mortals, gigantic
hags, in whose lap mortal women are mere infants.
In the Highlands the names sithche and daoine sith
are given to all these different . sizes alike, little men,
elfin youth, elfin dame, and elfin hag, all of whom
are not mythical beings of different classes or kinds.
10 THE FAIRIES.
but one and the same race, having the same
characteristics and dress, living on the same food,
staying in the same dwellings, associated in the same
actions, and kept away by the same means. The
easiest solution of the anomaly is that the fairies had
the power of making themselves large or small at
' pleasure. There is no popular tale, however, which
represents them as exercising such a power, nor is it
conformable to the rest of their characteristics that it
should be ascribed to them. The true belief is
that the Fairies are a small race, the men ' about four
feet or so ' in height, and the women in many cases
not taller than a little girl {cnapach caileig). Being
called 'little,' the exaggeration, which popular imagina-
tion loves, has diminished them till they appear as elves
of different kinds. There is hardly a limit to the
popular exaggeration of personal peculiarities. Og,
King of Bashan, was a big man, and the Rabbis
made his head tower to the regions of perpetual
snow, while his feet were parched in the deserts of
Arabia. Finmac Coul was reputed strong, at least
he thrashed the devil, and made him howl. A weaver
in Perthshire, known as ' the weaver with the nose '
{figkeadair na erdine), had a big nose, at least he carried
his loom in it. Similarly the ' little men ' came down
to the ' size of half an ell,' and even the height of
a quart bottle.
The same peculiarity exists in the Teutonic belief.
. THEIR SIZE. II
At times the elf is a dwarfish being that enters
through key-holes and window-slits; at other times a
great tall man. In different localities the Fairies are
known as Alfs, Huldra-Folk, Duergar, Trolls, Hill
Folk, Little Folk, Still Folk, Pixies, etc. A differ-
ence of size, as well as of name, has led to these
being described as separate beings, but they have
all so much in common with the Celtic Fairies that
we must conclude they were originally the same.
FAIRY DWELLINGS.
The Gaelic, as might be expected, abounds in words
denoting the diversified features of the scenery in a
mountainous country. To this the English language
itself bears witness, having adopted so many Gaelic
words of the kind, as strath, glen, corrie, ben, knock,
dun, etc. From this copiousness it arises that the
round green eminences, which were said to be the
residences of the Fairies, are known in Gaelic by
several names which have no synonym in English.
Sitkein (pron. shi-en) is the name of any place in
which the Fairies take up their residence. It is known
from the surrounding scenery by the peculiarly green
appearance and rounded form. Sometimes in these
respects it is very striking, being of so nearly conical
a form, and covered with such rich verdure, that
a second look is required to satisfy the observers
it is not artificial. Its external appearance has
12 THE FAIRIES.
led to its being also known by various other
names.
Tolnian is a small green knoll, or hummock, of
earth ; bac, a bank of sand or earth ; cnoc, knock,
Scot. ' a knowe,' and its diminutive cnocan, a little
knowe ; dim, a rocky mound or heap, such, for in-
stance, as the Castle rock of Edinburgh or Dumbarton,
though often neither so steep nor so large ; bthan, a
green elevation in wet ground ; and itigh, a provincial
term of much the same import as tolman. Even
lofty hills have been represented as tenanted by
Fairies, and the highest point of a hill, having the
rounded form, characteristic of Fairy dwellings is called
its shY-en {sithein na beinne). Rocks may be tenanted
by the elves, but not caves. The dwellings of the
race are below the outside or superficies of the earth,
and tales representing the contrary may be looked
upon with suspicion as modern.
There is one genuine popular story in which the
Fairy dwelling is in the middle of a green plain,
without a:ny elevation to mark its site beyond a
horse-skull, the eye-sockets of which were used as
the Fairy chimney.
These dwellings were tenanted sometimes by a
single family only, more frequently by a whole com-
munity. The elves were said to change their residences
as men do, and, when they saw proper themselves, to
remove to distant parts of the country and more
THEIR DWELLINGS. ij
desirable haunts. To them, on their arrival in their
new home, are ascribed the words :
" Though good the haven we have left,
Better be the haven we have found." ^
The Fairy hillock might be passed by the strangers
without suspicion of its being tenanted, and cattle
were pastured on it unmolested by the " good people."
There is, however, a common story in the Western
Isles that a person was tethering his horse or cow
for the night on a green tobnan when a head appeared
out of the ground, and told him to tether the beast
somewhere else, as he let rain into " their " house,
and had nearly driven the tether-pin into the ear of
one of the inmates. Another, who was in the habit
of pouring out dirty water at the door, was told by
the Fairies to pour it elsewhere, as he was spoiling
their furniture. He shifted the door to the back of
the house, and prospered ever after. The Fairies
were very grateful to any one who kept the shi-en
clean, and swept away cow or horse-droppings falling
on it. Finding a farmer careful of the roof of their
dwelling, keeping it clean, and not breaking the
sward with tether-pin or spade, they showed their
thankfulness by driving his horses and cattle to the
sheltered side of the mound when the night proved
stormy. Many believe the Fairies themselves swept
^ " Ged is math an cala dh' fhag sinn,
Gum bu fearr an cala fhuair sinn."
14 THE FAIRIES.
the hillock every night, so that in the morning its
surface was spotless.
Brugh (bru) denotes the Fairy dwelling viewed as it
were from the inside — the interiors — but is often used
interchangeably with sithein. It is probably the same
word as burgh, borough, or bro', and its reference is
to the nufnber of inmates in the Fairy dwelling.^
FAIRY DRESSES.
The Fairies, both Celtic and Teutonic, are dressed
in green. In Skye, however, though Fairy women, as
elsewhere, are always dressed in that colour, the men
wear clothes of any colour like their human neighbours.
They are frequently called daoine beaga ruadh, " little
red men," from their clothes having the appearance of
being dyed with the lichen called crotal, a common
colour of men's clothes, in the North Hebrides.
The coats of Fairy women are shaggy, or ruffled
{caiteineack), and their caps curiously fitted or
wrinkled. The men are said, but not commonly, to
have blue bonnets, and in the song to the murdered
Elfin lover, the Elf is said to have a hat bearing "' a
smell of honied apples." This is perhaps the only
Highland instance of a hat, which is a prominent object
' Few villages in the Highlands of Scotland are without a sh'i-en in their
neighbourhood, and often a number are found close to each other.
Strontian, well known to geologists from the mineral which bears its
.name, is Srhi an t-sithein, " the nose of the Fairy hillock."
THEIR DRESSES. 15
in the Teutonic superstition, being ascribed to the
Fairies.
THE DEFECTS OF FAIRIES.
Generally some personal defect is ascribed to them,
by which they become known to be of no mortal race.
In Mull and the neighbourhood they are said to have
only one nostril, the other being imperforate (an leth
choinnlein aca druid-te). The Elfin smith who made
Finmac Coul's sword, " the son of Lun that never
asked a second stroke " (^Mac an Luin, nach d'fhdg
riamh fuigheal bhemit), had but one gloomy eye in his
forehead. The Bean shiih was detected by her extra-
ordinary voracity (a cow at a meal), a frightful front
tooth, the entire want of a nostril, a web foot, praeter-
naturally long breasts, etc. She is also said to be
unable to suckle her own children, and hence the Fairy
desire to steal nursing women.
THEIR OCCUPATIONS.
The Fairies, as has been already said, are coun-
terparts of mankind. There are children and old
people among them ; they practise all kinds of trades
and handicrafts ; they possess cattle, dogs, arms ; they
require food, clothing, sleep ; they are liable to disease,
and can be killed. So entire is the resemblance that
they have even been betrayed into intoxication. People
entering their brughs, have found the inmates engaged
i6 THE FAIRIES.
in similar occupations to mankind, the women spinning,
weaving, grinding meal, baking, cooking, churning, etc.,
and the men sleeping, dancing, and making merry, or
sitting round a fire in the middle of the floor (as a
Perthshire informant described it) "like tinkers." Some-
times the inmates were absent on foraging expeditions
or pleasure excursions. The women sing at their work,
a common practice in former times with Highland
women, and use distaff, spindle, handmills, and such
like primitive implements. The men have smithies, in
which they make the Fairy arrows and other weapons.
Some Fairy families or communities are poorer than
others, and borrow meal and other articles of domestic
use from each other and from their neighbours of
mankind.
FESTIVITIES.
There are stated seasons of festivity which are
observed with much splendour in the larger dwellings.
The brugh is illumined, the tables glitter with gold
and silver vessels, and the door is thrown open to all
comers. Any of the human race entering on these
occasions are hospitably and heartily welcomed ; food
and drink are offered them, and their health is pledged.
Everything in the dwelling seems magnificent beyond
description, and mortals are so enraptured they forget
everything but the enjoyment of the moment. Joining
in the festivities, they lose all thought as to the passage
FESTIVITIES. 17
of time. The food is the most sumptuous, the
clothing the most gorgeous ever seen, the music the
sweetest ever heard, the dance the sprighthest ever
trod. The whole dwelling is lustrous with magic
splendour.
All this magnificence, however, and enjoyment are
nothing but semblance and illusion of the senses.
Mankind, with all their cares, and toils, and sorrows,
have an infinitely more desirable lot, and the man is
greatly to be pitied whom the Elves get power over, so
that he exchanges his human lot and labour for their
society or pleasures. Wise people recommend that,
in the circumstances, a man should not utter a word
till he comes out again, nor, on any account, taste Fairy
food or drink. If he abstains he is very likely be-
fore long dismissed, but if he indulges he straightway
loses the will and the power ever to return to the
society of men. He becomes insensible to the passage
of time, and may stay, without knowing it, for years,
and even ages, in the brugh. Many, who thus forgot
themselves, are among the Fairies to this day. Should
they ever again return to the open air, and their en-
chantment be broken, the Fairy grandeur and pleasure
prove an empty show, worthless, and fraught with
danger. The food becomes disgusting refuse, and the
pleasures a shocking waste of time.
The Elves are great adepts in music and dancing,
and a great part of their time seems to be spent in the
1 8 THE FAIRIES.
practice of these accomplishments. The changeling has
often been detected by his fondness for them. Though
in appearance an ill-conditioned and helpless brat, he
has been known, when he thought himself unobserved,
to play the pipes with surpassing skill, and dance with
superhuman activity. Elfin music is more melodious
than human skill and instruments can produce, and
there are many songs and tunes which are said to have
been originally learned from the Fairies. The only
musical instrument of the Elves is the bagpipes, and
some of the most celebrated pipers in Scotland are said
to have learned their music from them.
FAIRY RAIDS.
The Gaelic belief recognizes no Fairyland or realm
different from the earth's surface on which men live
and move. The dwellings are underground, but it
is on the natural face of the earth the Fairies find
their sustenance, pasture their cattle, and on which
they forage and roam.
The seasons on which their festivities are held are
the last night of every quarter (Ji-uile latha ceann
raidhe), particularly the nights before Beltane, the first
of summer, and Hallowmas, the first of winter. On
these nights, on Fridays, and on the last night of
the year, they are given to leaving home, and taking
away whomsoever of the human race they find helpless,
or unguarded or unwary. They may be encountered
FAIRY RAWS. 19
any time, but on these stated occasions men are to
be particularly on their guard against them.
On Fridays they obtrusively enter houses, and have
even the impudence, it is said, to lift the lid off the
pot to see what the family have on the fire for
dinner. Any Fairy story, told on this day, should be
prefixed by saying, ' a blessing attend their departing
and travelling ! this day is Friday and they will not
hear us ' {Beannachd nan siubhal 'j nan isneachd ! 'se
'n diugh Di-haoine 's cha chluinn tad sinn\ This
prevents Fairy ill-will coming upon the narrator for
anything he may chance to say. No one should call
the day by its proper name of Friday [Di-haoine),
but ' the day of yonder town ' {latha bhaW ud thaW).
The Fairies do not like to hear the day mentioned,
and if anyone is so unlucky as to use the proper name,
their wrath is directed elsewhere by the bystander
adding ' on the cattle of yonder town ' {air cro a bhaiV
ud tkall), or ' on the farm of So-and-so,' mentioning
anyone he may have a dislike to. The fear of Fairy
wrath also prevented the sharpening of knives on this
day.
They are said to come always from the west. They
are admitted into houses, however well guarded other-
wise, by the little hand-made cake, the last of the
baking (bonnach beag boise), called the Fallaid bannock,
unless there has been a hole put through it with the
finger, or a piece is broken off it, or a live coal is
20 THE FAIRIES.
put on the top of it ; ^ by the water in which men's
feet have been washed ; by the fire, unless it be
properly ' raked ' {snidladh), i.e. covered up to keep it
alive for the night ; or by the band of the spinning
wheel, if left stretched on the wheel.
The reason assigned for taking water into the house
at night was that the Fairies would suck the sleeper's
blood if they found no water in to quench their thirst.
The water in which feet were washed, unless thrown
out, or a burning peat were put in it, let them in,
and was used by them to plash about in {gan loireadh
fhtin ann) all night. Unless the band was taken off
the spinning wheel, particularly on the Saturday even-
ings, they came after the inmates of the house had
retired to rest and used the wheel. Sounds of busy
work were heard, but in the morning no work was
found done, and possibly the wheel was disarranged.^
On the last night of the year they are kept out
by decorating the house with holly ; and the last
handful of corn reaped should be dressed up as a
Harvest Maiden {Maigkdean Bkuan), and hung up in
the farmer's house to aid in keeping them out till
next harvest.
^ Bonnach beag baise, gun ihloigh gun lihearn, Eirich 's big sinne "
stigh, i.e. Little cake, without gap or fissure, rise and let us in, is the
Elfin call.
2 In the north of Ireland the band was taken off the spinning wheel to
prevent the Fairies spoiling the linen.
WHEN SEEN. 21
WHEN SEEN.
There seems to be no definite rule as to the circum-
stances under which the Fairies are to be seen. A
person whose eye has been touched with Fairy water
earn see them whenever they are present ; the seer,
possessed of second sight, often saw them when others
did not ; and on nights on which the shi-en is open the
chance passer-by sees them rejoicing in their under-
ground dwellings. A favourite time for their encounters
with men seems to be the dusk and wild stormj'
nights of mist and driving rain, when the streams
are swollen and ' the roar of the torrent is heard on
the hill.' They are also apt to appear when spoken
of and when a desire is expressed for their assistance ;
when proper precautions are omitted and those whose
weakness and helplessness call for watchfulness and
care, are neglected ; when their power is contemned
and when a sordid and churlish spirit is entertained.
Often, without fault or effort, in places the most
unexpected, mortals have been startled by their ap-
pearance, cries, or music.
FOOD.
Fairy food consists principally of things intended for
human food, of which the Elves take the toradh, i.e.
the substance, fruit, or benefit, leaving the semblance or
appearance to men themselves. In this manner they
22 THE FAIRIES.
take cows, sheep, goats, meal, sowens, the produce of
the land, etc. Cattle falling over rocks are particularly
liable to being taken by them, and milk spilt in
coming from the dairy is theirs by right. They have,
of food peculiar to themselves and not acquired from
men, the root of silver weed [brisgein), the stalks of
heather {cuiseagan an fhraoich), the milk of the red
deer hinds and of goats, weeds gathered in the fields,
and barleymeal. The brisgein is a root plentifully
turned up by the plough in spring, and ranked in olden
times as the ' seventh bread.' Its inferior quality
and its being found underground, are probably the
cause of its being assigned to the Fairies. It is a
question whether the stalks of heather are the tops or
the stems of the plant. Neither contain much sap or
nourishment. The Banshi Fairy, or Elle woman, has
been seen by hunters milking the hinds, just as women
milk cows.
Those who partake of Fairy food are as hungry after
their repast as before it. In appearance it is most
sumptuous and inviting, but on grace being said turns
out to be horse-dung. Some, in their haste to partake
of the gorgeous viands, were only disenchanted when
' returning thanks.'
GIFTS BESTOWED BY FAIRIES.
The Fairies can bestow almost any gift upon their
favourites — great skill in music and in work of all kinds
GIFTS BESTOWED BY FAIRIES. 23
t
— give them cows and even children stolen for the
purpose from others, leave them good fortune, keep
cattle from wandering into their crops at night, assist
them in spring and harvest work, etc. Sometimes
their marvellous skill is communicated to mortals,
sometimes they come in person to assist. If a smith,
wright, or other tradesman catches them working with
the tools of his trade (a thing they are addicted to
doing) he can compel them to bestow on him the
Ceaird Chomuinn, or association craft, that is to come
to his assistance whenever he wants them. Work left
near their hillocks over night has been found finished
in the morning, and they have been forced by men,
entering their dwellings for the purpose, to tell the
cure for diseases defying human skill.
In every instance, however, the benefit of the gift
goes ultimately to the Fairies themselves, or (as it is
put in the Gaelic expression) ' the fruit of it goes into
their own bodies ' (Theid an toradh na?i cuirp fhein).
Their gifts have evil influence connected with them, and,
however inviting at first, are productive of bad luck in
the end. No wise man will desire either their company
or their kindness. When they come to a house to
assist at any work, the sooner they are got rid of the
better. If they are hired as servants their wages at first
appear trifling, but will ultimately ruin their employer,
It is unfortunate even to encounter any of the race, but
to consort with them is disastrous in the extreme.
24 THE FAIRIES.
LOANS.
'The giving and taking of loans,' according to the
proverb, ' always prevailed in the world ' (Bka toirt is
gabhail an iasad dol riamh feadh an t-saogkail), and the
custom is one to which the ' good neighbours ' are no
strangers.
They are universally represented as borrowing meal,
from each other and from men. In the latter case
when they returned a loan, as they always honestly
did, the return was in barleyineal, two measures for one
of oatmeal ; and this, on being kept in a place by itself,
proved inexhaustible, provided the bottom of the vessel
in which it was stored was never made to appear, no
question was asked, and no blessing was pronounced
over it. It would then neither vanish nor become
horse-dung !
When a loan is returned to them, they accept only
the fair equivalent of what they have lent, neither less
nor more. If more is offered they take offence, and
never give an opportunity for the same insult again.
We hear also of their borrowing a kettle or cauldron,
and, under the power of a rhyme uttered by the lender
at the time of giving it, sending it back before morning.
EDDY WIND.
When ' the folk ' leave home in companies, they
travel in eddies of wind. In this climate these eddies
EDDY WIND. 25
are among the most curious of natural phenomena.
On calm summer days they go past, whirling about
straws and dust, and as not another breath of air is
moving at the time their cause is sufficiently puzzling.
In Gaelic the eddy is known as ' the people's puff of
wind ' {piteag sluaigK), and its motion ' travelling on
tall grass stems ' {falbh air chuiseagan trebrach). By
throwing one's left (or toisgeul) shoe at it, the Fairies
are made to drop whatever they may be taking away —
men, women, children, or animals. The same result is
attained by throwing one's bonnet, saying, ' this is
yours, that's mine ' {Is leatsa so, is leamsa sin), or a
naked knife, or earth from a mole-hill.
In these eddies, people going on a journey at night
have been 'lifted,' and spent the night careering through
the skies. On returning to the earth, though they
came to the house last left, they were too stupefied to
recognize either the house or its inmates. Others,
through Fairy despite, have wandered about all night
on foot, failing to reach their intended destination
though quite near it, and perhaps in the morning find-
ing themselves on the top of a distant hill, or in some
inaccessible place to which they could never have made
their way alone. Even in daylight some were carried
in the Elfin eddy from one island to another, in great
terror lest they should fall into the sea.
26 THE FAIRIES.
RAIN AND SUNSHINE, WIND AND RAIN.
When there is rain with sunshine, the ' little people,'
according to a popular rhyme, are at their meat,
" Rain and sun,
Little people at their meat."
When wind and rain come from opposite directions
(which may for an instant be possible in a sudden shift
of wind), by throwing some horse-dung against the
wind, the Fairies are brought down in a shower !
FAIRY ARROWS, ETC.
Natural objects of a curious appearance, or bearing a
fanciful resemblance to articles used by men, are also
associated with the Fairies. The reedmace plant is
called ' the distaff of the Fairy women ' {cuigeal nam
ban skitk), the foxglove the ' thimble of the Fairy old
women ' {iniaran nan cailleacha sztk), though more
commonly ' the thimble of dead old women ' {m. nan
cailleacha marbh). A substance, found on the shores of
the Hebrides, like a stone, red {ruadli), and half dark
{lith dhorcha^, holed, is called ' Elf's blood ' {^fuil
siochaire)}
The Fairy arrow {Saigkead shitK) owes its name to
a similar fancy. It is known also as ' Fairy flint' {spor
shhk), and consists of a triangular piece of flint, bear-
1 Similarly, in Dorsetshire fossil belemnites are called colepexies' fingers,
and in Northumberland a fungous excrescence, growing about the roots of
old trees, is called Fairy butter. So in Ireland, the round towers are
ascribed to them.
FAIRY ARROWS. 27
ing the appearance of an arrow head. It probably
originally formed part of the rude armoury of the
savages of the stone period. Popular imagination,
struck by its curious form, and ignorant of its origin,
ascribed it to the Fairies. It was said to be frequently
shot at the hunter, to whom the Elves have a special
aversion, because he kills the hinds, on the milk of
which they live. They could not throw it themselves,
but compelled some mortal (duine saoghailte) who was
being carried about in their company to throw it for
them. If the person aimed at was a friend, the
thrower managed to miss his aim, and the Fairy arrow
proved innocuous. It was found lying beside the
object of Fairy wrath, and was kept as a valuable pre-
servation in future against similar dangers, and for
rubbing to wounds {suathadh ri creuchdun). The man
or beast struck by it became paralyzed, and to all
appearance died shortly after. In reality they were
taken away by the elves, and only their appearance
remained. Its point being blunt was an indication
that it had done harm.
The Fairy spade {caibe sitli) is a smooth, slippery,
black stone, in shape 'like the sole of a shoe.' It
was put in water, given to sick people and cattle.
CATTLE.
Everywhere, in the Highlands, the red-deer are
associated with the Fairies, and in some districts, as
28 THE FAIRIES.
Lochaber and Mull, are said to be their only cattle.
This association is sufficiently accounted for by the
Fairy-like appearance and habits of the deer. In
its native haunts, in remote and misty corries, where
solitude has her most undisturbed abode, its beauty
and grace of form, combined with its dislike to the
presence of man, and even of the animals man has
tamed, amply entitle it to the name of sith. Timid
and easily startled by every appearance and noise,
it is said to be unmoved by the presence of the
Fairies. Popular belief also says that no deer is
found dead with age, and that its horns, which it
sheds every year, are not found, because hid by the
Fairies. In their transformations it was peculiar for
the Fairy women to assume the shape of the red-deer,
and in that guise they were often encountered by the
hunter. The elves have a particular dislike to those who
kill the hinds, and, on finding them in lonely places,
delight in throwing elf-bolts at them. When a dead
deer is carried home at night the Fairies lay their
weight on the bearer's back, till he feels as if he
had a house for a burden. On a penknife, however,
being stuck in the deer it becomes very light. There
are occasional allusions to the Fairy women having
herds of deer. The Carlin Wife of the Spotted Hill
{Cailleach Beinne Bhric horb), who, according to a
popular rhyme, was ' large and broad and tall,' had
a herd which she would not allow to descend to the
CA TTLE. 2g
beach, and which ' loved the water-cresses by the
fountain high in the hills better than the black weeds
of the shore.' The old women of Ben-y-Ghloe, in
Perthshire, and of Clibrich, in Sutherlandshire,^ seem
to have been sith women of the same sort. ' I
never,' said an old man (he was upwards of eighty
years of age) in the Island of Mull, questioned some
years ago on the subject, ' heard of the Fairies having
cows, but I always heard that deer were their
cattle.'
In other parts of the Highlands, as in Skye, though
the Fairies are said to keep company with the deer,
they have cows like those of men. When one of
them appears among a herd of cattle the whole fold
of them grows frantic, and follows lowing wildly. The
strange animal disappears by entering a rock or knoll,
and the others, unless intercepted, follow and are
never more seen. The Fairy cow is dun (odhar)
and ' hummel,' or hornless. In Skye, however, Fairy
cattle are said to be speckled and red {crodh breac
ruadJi), and to be able to cross the sea. It is not
on every place that they graze. There were not
above ten such spots in all Skye. The field of Annat
{achadh na h-annaid), in the Braes of Portree, is
one. When the cattle came home at night from
pasture, the following were the words used by the
Fairy woman, standing on Dun Gerra-sheddar {Dim
^ Campbell's West Highland Tales, ii. 46.
30 THE FAIRIES.
Gkearra-seadar), near Portree, as she counted her
charge :
" Crooked one, dun one.
Little wing grizzled,
Black cow, white cow,
Little bull black-head,
My milch kine have come home,
O dear ! that the herdsman would come ! "
HORSES.
In the Highland creed the Fairies but rarely have
horses. In Perthshire they have been seen on a
market day riding about on white horses ; in Tiree
two Fairy ladies were met riding on what seemed to
be horses, but in reality were ragweeds ; and in Skye
the elves have galloped the farm horses at full speed
and in dangerous places, sitting with their faces to
the tails.
When horses neigh at night it is because they are
ridden by the Fairies, and pressed too hard. The
neigh is one of distress, and if the hearer exclaims
aloud, " Your saddle and pillion be upon you " (^Do
shrathair 's do phillein ori) the Fairies tumble to the
ground.
DOGS.
The Fairy dog {cu sith) is as large as a two-year-
old stirk, a dark green colour, with ears of deep
green. It is of a lighter colour towards the feet.
DOGS. 31
In some cases it has a long tail rolled up in a coil
on its back, but others have the tail flat and plaited
like the straw rug of a pack-saddle. Bran, the famous
dog that Fin mac Coul had, was of Elfin breed, and
from the description given of it by popular tradition,
decidedly parti-coloured :
" Bran had yellow feet,
Its two sides black and belly white ;
Green was the back of the hunting hound,
Its two pointed ears blood-red."
Bran had a venomous shoe {Brbg nifnke), with which
it killed whatever living creature it struck, and when
at full speed, and ' like its father ' {dol ri athatr),
was seen as three dogs, intercepting the deer at three
passes.
The Fairy hound was kept tied as a watch dog in
the brugh, but at times accompanied the women on
their expeditions or roamed about alone, making its
lairs in clefts of the rocks. Its motion was silent and
gliding, and its bark a rude clamour (blaodk). It went
in a straight line, and its bay has been last heard, by
those who listened for it, far out at sea. Its immense
footmarks, as large as the spread of the human hand,
have been found next day traced in the mud, in the
snow, or on the sands. Others say it makes a noise
like a horse galloping, and its bay is like that of
another dog, only louder. There is a considerable
interval between each bark, and at the third (it only
32 THE FAIRIES.
barks thrice) the terror-struck hearer is overtaken and
destroyed, unless he has by that time reached a place
of safety.
Ordinary dogs have a mortal aversion to the Fairies,
and give chase whenever the elves are sighted. On
coming back, the hair is found to be scraped off their
bodies, all except the ears, and they die soon after.
CATS.
Elfin cats {cait skltk) are explained to be of a wild,
not a domesticated, breed, to be as large as dogs, of a
black colour, with a white spot on the breast, and to
have arched backs and erect bristles {crotach agus miir-
lach). Many maintain these wild cats have no connec-
tion with the Fairies, but are witches in disguise.
FAIRY THEFT.
The elves have got a worse name for stealing than
they deserve. So far as taking things without the
knowledge or consent of the owners is concerned, the
accusation is well-founded ; they neither ask nor obtain
leave, but there are important respects in which their
depredations differ from the pilferings committed among
men by jail-birds and other dishonest people.
The Fairies do not take their booty away bodily ,
they only take what is called in Gaelic its toradk, i.e.
its substance, .virtue, fruit, or benefit. The outward
appearance is left, but the reality is gone. Thus, when
FAIRY THEFT. 33
a cow is elf-taken, it appears to its owner only as
suddenly smitten by some strange disease {chaidh am
beathach ud a ghonadli). In reality the cow is gone, and
only its semblance remains, animated it may be by an
Elf, who receives all the attentions paid to the sick
cow, but gives nothing in return. The seeming cow
lies on its side, and cannot be made to rise. It con-
sumes the provender laid before it, but does not yield
milk or grow fat. In some cases it gives plenty of
milk, but milk that yields no butter. If taken up a
hill, and rolled down the incline, it disappears altogether.
If it dies, its flesh ought not to be eaten^it is not beef,
but a stock of alder wood, an aged Elf, or some trashy
substitute. Similarly when the toradh of land is taken,
there remains the appearance of a • crop, but a crop
without benefit to man or beast — the ears are unfilled,
the grain is without weight, the fodder without nourish-
ment.
A still more important point of difference is, that
the Fairies only take away what men deserve to lose.
When mortals make a secret of icletli), or grumble
{ceasad) over, what they have, the Fairies get the bene-
fit, and the owner is a poor man, in the midst of his
abundance. When (to use an illustration the writer has
more than once heard) a farmer speaks disparagingly
of his crop, and, though it be heavy, tries to conceal
his good fortune, the Fairies take away the benefit of
his increase. The advantage goes away mysteriously
34 THE FAIRIES.
' in pins and needles ' {na phrineachan 's na shnddun),
' in alum and madder ' {na aim 's na mkadair), as the
saying is, and the farmer gains nothing from his crop.
Particularly articles of food, the possession of which
men denied with oaths {air a thiomnadh), became Fairy
property.
The elves are also blamed for lifting with them
articles mislaid. These are generally restored as
mysteriously and unaccountably as they were taken
away. Thus, a woman blamed the elves for taking
her thimble. It was placed beside her, and when
looked for could not be found. Some time after she
was sitting alone on the hillside and found the thimble
in her lap. This confirmed her belief in its being
the Fairies that took it away. In a like mysterious
manner a person's bonnet might be whipped off his
head, or the pot for supper be lifted off the fire, and
left by invisible hands on the middle of the floor.
The accusation of taking milk is unjust. It is
brought against the elves only in books, and never
in the popular creed. The Fairies take cows, sheep,
goats, horses, and it may be the substance or benefit
{ioradti) of butter and cheese, but not milk.
Many devices were employed to thwart Fairy
inroads. A burning ember {eibhleag) was put into
' sowens ' {cabhruich), one of the weakest and most
unsubstantial articles of human food and very liable
to Fairy attack. It was left there till the dish was
FAIRY THEFT. 35
ready for boiling, i.e. about three days after. A sieve
should not be allowed out of the house after dark,
and no meal unless it be sprinkled with salt. Other-
wise, the Fairies may, by means of them, take the
substance out of the whole farm produce. For the
same reason a hole should be put with the finger in
the little cake {bonnach beag' s toll ann), made with
the remnant of the meal after a baking, and when
given to children, as it usually is, a piece should be
broken off it. A nail driven into a cow, killed by
falling over a precipice, was supposed by the more
superstitious to keep the elves away.
One of the most curious thefts ascribed to them
was that of querns,^ or handmills {^Bra, Brathuinn).
To keep them away these handy and useful imple-
ments should be turned deiseal, i.e. with the right
hand turn, as sunwise. What is curious in the belief
is, that the handmill is said to have been originally
^ The use of some kind of mill, generally a hand mill, is as universal as
the growth of grain, and the necessity for reducing the solid grain into the
more palatable form of meal no doubt led to its early invention. The
Gaelic ineil (or beil), to grind, the English mill, the Latin tnola, and the
Greek iivXt], show that it was known to the Aryan tribes at a period long
anterior to history. The handmill mentioned in Scripture, worked by two
women, seems the same with that still to be found in obscure corners in
the West Highlands.
An instrument so useful to man in the less advanced stages of his
civilization could not fail to be looked upon with much respect and good
feeling. In the Hebrides it was rubbed every Saturday evening with a
wisp of straw ' for payment ' of its benevolent labours (sop ga shuathadh
ris a bhrh ga phigheadh). Meal ground in it is coarser than ordinary
meal, and is known as gairbhein.
36 THE FAIRIES.
got from the Fairies themselves. Its sounds have
often been heard by the belated peasant, as it was
being worked inside some grassy knoll, and songs,
sung by the Fairy women employed at it, have been
learned.
STEALING WOMEN AND CHILDREN.
Most frequently it was women, not yet risen from
childbed, and their babes that the Fairies abducted.
On every occasion of a birth, therefore, the utmost
anxiety prevailed to guard the mother and child from
their attacks. It is said that the Fairy women are
unable to suckle their own children, and hence their
desire to secure a human wet-nurse. This, however,
does not explain why they want the children, nor
indeed is it universally a part of the creed.
The first care was not to leave a woman alone
during her confinement. A house full of women
gathered and watched for three days, in some places
for eight. Various additional precautions against the
Fairies were taken in various localities. A row of
iron nails were driven into the front board of the
bed ; the smoothing iron or a reaping hook was placed
under it and in the window ; an old shoe was put
in the fire ; the door posts were sprinkled with maistir,
urine kept for washing purposes — a liquid extremely
offensive to the Fairies ; the Bible was opened, and
the breath blown across it in the face of the woman
STEALING WOMEN AND CHILDREN. 37
in childbed ; mystic words of threads were placed
about the bed ; and, when leaving at the end of the
three days, the midwife left a little cake of oatmeal
with a hole in it in the front of the bed. The father's
shirt wrapped round the new-born babe was esteemed
a preservative, and if the marriage gown was thrown
over the wife she could be recovered if, notwithstanding,
or from neglect of these precautions, she were taken
away. The name of the Deity solemnly pronounced
over the child in baptism was an additional protection.
If the Fairies were seen, water in which an ember was
extinguished, or the burning peats themselves, thrown
at them, drove them away. Even quick wit and
readiness of reply in the mother has sent them off"^
It is not to be supposed that these precautions were
universally known or practised. In that case such a
thing as an elf-struck child would be unknown. The
gathering of women and the placing of iron about the
bed seem to have been common, but the burning of old
shoes was confined to the Western Isles. If it existed
elsewhere, its memory has been forgotten. That it is
an old part of the creed is evident from the dislike of
' Other charms used on the occasion were the taking of the woman to be
.delivered several times across the byre-drain [tune), the opening of every
lock in the house, and ceremonies by means of
" A grey hanli of flax and a cocliscomb,
Two things against the commandments."
These practices seem to have been l<nown only to the very superstitious,
and to have been local. The first belonged to Ross-shire, the second to
the north-west mainland of Argyllshire, and tlie last to Tiree.
38 THE FAIRIES.
the Fairies to strong smells, being also part of the
Teutonic creed. The blowing of the breath across
the Bible existed in Sunart, part of the west of
Inverness-shire.
CHANGELINGS.
When they succeeded in their felonious attempts,
the elves left instead of the mother, and bearing her
semblance, a stock of wood {stoc maide), and in place of
the infant an old mannikin of their own race. The
child grew up a peevish misshapen brat, ever* crying
and complaining. It was known, however, to be a
changeling by the skilful in such matters, from the
large quantities of water it drank — a tubful before
morning, if left beside it — its large teeth, its inordinate
appetite, its fondness for music and its powers of danc-
ing, its unnatural precocity, or from some unguarded
remark as to its own age. It is to the aged elf, left in
the place of child or beast, that the name sithbheire
(pron. sheevere) is properly given, and as may well be
supposed, to say of one who has an ancient manner
or look, ' he is but a sithbheire,' or ' he is only
one that came from a brugh,' is an expression of
considerable contempt. When a person does a sense-
less action, it is said of him, that he has been ' taken
out of himself [air a thoirt as), that is, taken away
by the Fairies.
The changeling was converted into the stock of a
CHANGELINGS. 39
tree by saying a powerful rhyme over him, or by
sticking him with a knife. He could be driven away
by running at him with a red-hot ploughshare ; by
getting between him and the bed and threatening
him with a drawn sword ; by leaving him out on
the hillside, and paying no attention to his shrieking
and screaming ; by putting him sitting on a gridiron,
or in a creel, with a fire below ; by sprinkling him
well out of the maistir tub ; or by dropping him into
the river. There can be no doubt these modes of
treatment would rid a house of any disagreeable
visitor, at least of the human race.
The story of the changeling, who was detected by
means of egg-shells, seems in some form or other to
be as widespread as the superstition itself Empty
egg-shells are ranged round the hearth, and the
changeling, when he finds the house quiet and thinks
himself unobserved, gets up from bed and examines
them. Finding them empty, he is heard to remark
sententiously, as he peers into each, " this is but a
wind-bag [chaneil a' so ach balg fas) ; I am so many
hundred years old, and I never saw the like of this.''
DEFORMITIES.
Many of the deformities in children are attributed to
the Fairies. When a child is incautiously left alone by
its mother, for however short a time, the Fairies may
come and give its little legs such a twist as will leave
40 THE FAIRIES.
it hopelessly lame ever after. To give them their due,
however, they sometimes took care of children whom
they found forgotten, and even of grown up people
sleeping incautiously in dangerous places.
NURSES.
The elves have children of their own, and require the
services of midwives like the human race. ' Howdies,'
as they are called, taken in the way of their profession
to the Fairy dwelling, found on coming out that the
time they had stayed was incredibly longer or shorter
than they imagined, and none of them was ever the
better ultimately of her adventure.
THE MEN or PEACE.
The Gaelic sithche, like the English elf, has two ideas,
almost amounting to two meanings, attached to it. In
the plural, shhchean, it conveys the idea of a diminutive
race, travelling in eddy winds, lifting men from the
ground, stealing, and entering houses in companies ;
while in the singular, sithche, the idea conveyed is that
of one who approaches mankind in dimensions. The
' man and woman of peace ' hire themselves to the
human race for a day's Work or a term of service, and
contract marriages with it. The elfin youth {Gille
slth) has enormous strength, that of a dozen men it
is said, and the elfin women (or Banshis) are remark-
ably handsome. The aged of the race were generally
THE MEN OF PEACE. 41
the reverse, in point of beauty, especially those of them
.substituted for Fairy-abducted children and animals.
Mortals should have nothing to do with any of the
race. No good comes out of the unnatural connection.
However enchanting, at first, the end is disaster and
death. When, therefore, the sithche is first met, it is
recommended by the prudent to pass by without notic-
ing ; or, if obliged or incautious enough to speak, and
^pressed to make an appointment, to give fair words,
saying, ' If I promise that, I will fulfil it' {ina gheallas
mi sin, co-gheallaidh ini e), still sufficiently near houses
to attract the attention of the dogs. They immediately
.give chase, and the Fairy flies away.
The Gi//e slth (or Elfin youth) is very solicitoijs
about his offspring when his mortal mistress bears him
children, and the love that women have to him as
their lover or familiar spirit {leannan shk) is un-
naturally passionate. The Elfin mistress is not always
so secure of the affections of her human lover. He
may get tired of her and leave her. On meeting
her first he is put under spells to keep appointments
with her in future every night. If he dares for one
night to neglect his appointment, she gives him isiich
a sound thrashing the first time she gets hold of him
that he never neglects it again. She disappears at
the cock-crowing. While he remains faithful to her,
she assists him at his trade as farmer, shepherd, etc.,
makes him presents of clothes, tells him when he is
42 THE FAIRIES.
to die, and even when he is to leave her and get
married She gives Sian a magic belt or other charm,
to protect him in danger. If offended, however, her
lover is in danger of his life. The children of these
alliances are said to be the urisks.
Those who have taken Elfin women for wives have
found a sad termination to their mesalliance. The
defect or peculiarity of the fair enchantress, which her
lover at first had treated as of no consequence, proves
his ruin. Her voracity thins his herds, he gets tired
of her or angry with her, and in an unguarded moment
reproaches her with her origin. She disappears, taking
with her the children and the fortune she brought him.
The gorgeous palace, fit for the entertainment of kings,
vanishes, and he finds himself again in his old black
dilapidated hut, with a pool of rain-drippings from the
roof in the middle of the floor.
THE BEAN NIGHE, OR WASHING WOMAN.
At times the Fairy woman {Bean shith) is seen in
lonely places, beside a pool or stream, washing the
linen of those soon to die, and folding and beating it
with her hands on a stone in the middle of the water.
She is then known as the Bean-nighe, or washing
woman ; and her being seen is a sure sign that death is
near.
In Mull and Tiree she is said to have praeternaturally
long breasts, which are in the way as she stoops at her
THE BEAN NIGHE, OR WASHING WOMAN. 43
washing. She throws them over her shoulders, and
they hang down her back. Whoever sees her must
not turn away, but steal up behind and endeavour to
approach her unawares. When he is near enough he is
to catch one of her breasts, and, putting it to his mouth,
call herself to witness that she is his first nursing or
foster-mother {jnuime ciche). She answers that he
has need of that being the case, and will then communi-
cate whatever knowledge he desires. If she says the
shirt she is washing is that of an enemy he allows the
washing to go on, and that man's death follows ; if it
be that of her captor or any of his friends, she is put a
stop to.
In Skye the Bean-nighe is said to be squat in figure
{tiugkiosal), or not unlike a ' small pitiful child '
(J)aisde beag brhnach^. If a person caught her she told
all that would befall him in after life. She answered
all his questions, but he must answer hers. Men did
not like to tell what she said. Women dying in child-
bed were looked upon as dying prematurely, and it
was believed that unless all the clothes left by them
were washed they would have to wash them themselves
till the natural period of their death. It was women
' dreeing this weird ' who were the washing women.
If the person hearing them at work beating their clothes
{slacartaicK) caught them before being observed, he
could not be heard by them ; but if they saw him
first, he lost the power of his limbs {Ifigh).
44 THE 'FAIRIES.
In the highlands of Perthshire the washing woman
is represented as small and round, and dressed in pretty-
green. She spreads by moonlight the linen winding
sheets of those soon to die, and is caught by getting
.between her and the stream.
She can also be caught and mastered and made
to communicate her information at the point of the
sword. Oscar, son of the poet Ossian, met her on his
way to the Cairbre's feast, at which the dispute arose
which led to his death. She was encountered by Hugh
of the Little Head on the evening before his last
.battle, and left him as her parting gift (Jagail), that he
should become the frightful apparition he did after
death, the most celebrated in the West Highlands.
SONG.
The song of the Fairy woman foreboded great
calamity, and men did not like to hear it. Scott
calls it
" The fatal Banshi's boding scream,"
but it was not a scream, only a wailing murmur {torman
mulaid) of unearthly sweetness and melancholy.
GLAISTIG.
The Banshi is sometimes confounded with the Glais-
tig, the apparition of a woman, acting as tutelary
guardian of the site to which she is attached. Many
GLAISTIG, ^S■■
people use Banshi and Glaistig as convertible terms^
and the confusion thence arising extends largely to
books. The true Glaistig is a woman of human race,,
who has been put under enchantments, and to whom a
Fairy nature has been given. She wears a green dress,
like Fairy women, but her face is wan and grey, whence
her name Glaistig, from glas, grey. She differs also in
haunting castles and the folds of the cattle, and confin-
ing herself to servant's work,
ELFIN QUEEN.
The Banshi is, without doubt, the original of the
Queen of Elfland, mentioned in ballads of the South of
Scotland. The Elfin Queen met Thomas of Ercil-
doune by the Eildon tree, and took him to her
enchanted realm, where he was kept for seven years.
She gave him the power of foretelling the future, ' the
tongue that never lied.' At first she was the most
beautiful woman he had ever seen, but when he next
looked —
" The hair that hung upon her head,
The half was black, the half was grey,
And all the rich clothing was away
That he before saw in that, stead ;
Her eyes seemed out that were so grey,
And all her body like the lead."
In Gaelic tales seven years is a common period of,
detention among the Fairies, the leannansith coxnvm^m- ,
46 THE FAIRIES.
cates to her lover the knowledge of future events, and
in the -end is looked upon by him with aversion. There
is no mention, however, of Fairyland, or of an Elfin
King or Queen, and but rarely of Fairies riding. True
Thomas, who is as well known in Highland lore as he
is in the Lowlands, is said to be still among the Fairies,
and to attend every market on the look-out for suitable
horses. When he has made up his complement he will
appear again among men, and a great battle will be
fought on the Clyde.
PROTECTION AGAINST FAIRIES.
The great protection against the Elfin race (and this
is perhaps the most noticeable point in the whole super-
stition) is Iron, or preferably steel {Cruaidh). The metal
in any form — a sword, a knife, a pair of scissors, a needle,
a nail, a ring, a bar, a piece of reaping-hook, a gun-
barrel, a fish-hook (and tales will be given illustrative of
all these) — is all-powerful. On entering a Fairy dwell-
ing, a piece of steel, a knife, needle, or fish-hook, stuck
in the door, takes from the Elves the power of closing
it till the intruder comes out again. A knife stuck in a
deer carried home at night keeps them from laying
their weight on the animal. A knife or nail in one's
pocket prevents his being ' lifted ' at night. Nails in
the front bench of the bed keep Elves from women ' in
the straw,' and their babes, As additional safe-guards,
the smoothing-iron should be put below the bed, and
PROTECTION AGAINST FAIRIES. 47
the reaping-hook in the window. A nail in the carcase
of a bull that fell over a rock was believed to preserve
its flesh from them. Playing the Jew's harp {tromb)
kept the Elfin women at a distance from the hunter,
because the tongue of the instrument is of steel. So
also a shoemaker's awl in the door-post of his bothy
kept a Glastig from entering.
Fire thrown into water in which the feet have been
washed takes away the power of the water to admit the
Fairies into the house at night ; a burning peat put in
sowens to hasten their fermenting {greasadh gortachadh)
kept the substance in them till ready to boil. Martin
( West Isl.) says fire was carried round lying-in women,
and round about children before they were christened,
to keep mother and infant from the power of evil spirits.
When the Fairies were seen coming in at the door
burning embers thrown towards them drove them away.
Another safe-guard is oatmeal. When it is sprinkled
on one's clothes or carried in the pocket no Fairy will
venture near, and it was usual with people going on
journeys after nightfall to adopt the precaution of
taking some with them. In Mull and Tiree the
pockets of boys going any distance after nightfall were
filled with oatmeal by their anxious mothers, and old
men are remembered who sprinkled themselves with it
when going on a night journey. In Skye, oatmeal was
not looked upon as proper Fairy food, and it was said
if a person wanted to see the Fairies he should not
48 THE FAIRIES.
take oatmeal with him ; if he did he would not be
able to see them. When ' the folk ' take a loan of meal
they do not appear to have any objections to oatmeal.
The meal returned, however, was always barleymeal.
Oatmeal, taken out of the house after dark, was
sprinkled with salt, and unless this was done, the Fairies
might through its instrumentality take the substance
out of the farmer's whole grain. To keep them from
getting the benefit of meal itself, housewives, when
baking oatmeal bannocks, made a little thick cake with
the last of the meal, between their palms (not kneading
it like the rest of the bannocks), for the youngsters to
put a hole through it with the forefinger. This palm
bannock {bonnach boise) is not to be toasted on the
gridiron, but placed to the fire leaning against a stone
{leac nam bonnach), well-known where a ' griddle ' is
not available. Once the Fairies were overtaken carrying
with them the benefit {toradJi) of the farm in a large
thick cake, with the handle of the quern {sgonnan na
bra) stuck through it, and forming a pole on which
it was carried. This cannot occur when the last
bannock baked {Bonnach fallaid) is a little cake with
a hole in it {Bonnach beag 's toll ann)}
^ Carleton ( Tales and Stories, p. 74) mentions an Irish belief of a
kindred character connected with oatmeal. When one cxoised fair gurtha,
or hungry grass (Scot., feur gorta, famine grass), a spot on which the
Fairies had left one of their curses, he was struck with weakness and
hunger, but, " if the person afflicted but tasted as much meal or flour as
would lie on the point of a penknife, he will instantaneously break the
spell of the Fairies, and recover his former strength. "
PROTECTION AGAINST FAIRIES. 49
Maistir, or stale urine, kept for the scouring of
blankets and other cloth, when sprinkled on the cattle
and on the door-posts and walls of the house, kept the
Fairies, and indeed every mischief, at a distance. This
sprinkling was done regularly on the last evening of
every quarter of the year (Ji-uile latha ceann raidhe).
Plants of great power were the Mbthan {Sagina
procumbens, trailing pearlwort) and Achlasan Challum-
chille (Hypericum pulcrum, St. John's wort). The
former protected its possessor from fire and the attacks
of the Fairy women. The latter warded off fevers, and
kept the Fairies from taking people away in their
sleep. There are rhymes which must be said when
these plants are pulled.
Stories representing the Bible as a protection must
be of a recent date. It is not so long since a copy of
the Bible was not available in the Highlands for that
or any other purpose. When the Book did become
accessible, it is not surprising that, as in other places,
a blind unmeaning reverence should accumulate
round it.
Such are the main features of the superstition of the
Sitkckean, the still-folk, the noiseless people, as it
existed, and in some degree still exists, in the High-
lands, and particularly in the Islands of Scotland.
There is a clear line of demarcation between it and
every other Highland superstition, though the distinc-
tion has not always been observed by writers on the
50 THE FAIRIES.
subject. The following Fairy characteristics deserve to
be particularly noticed.
It was peculiar to the Fairy women to assume the
shape of deer; while witches became mice, hares, cats,
gulls, or black sheep, and the devil a he-goat or
gentleman with a horse's or pig's foot. A running
stream could not be crossed by evil spirits, ghosts, and
apparitions, but made no difference to the Fairies. If
all tales be true, they could give a dip in the passing
to those they were carrying away ; and the stone, on
which the " Washing Woman " folded the shirts of the
doomed, was in the middle of water. Witches took the
milk from cows ; the Fairies had cattle of their own ;
and when they attacked the farmer's dairy, it was to
take away the cows themselves, i.e. the cow in appear-
ance remained, but its benefit (the real cow) was gone.
The Elves have even the impertinence at times to drive
back the cow at night to pasture on the corn of the
person from whom they have stolen it. The phrenzy
with which Fairy women afflicted men was only a
wandering madness ((potraXea fxavia), which made them
roam about restlessly, without knowing what they were
doing, or leave home at night to hold appointments
with the Elfin women themselves ; by druidism {druid-
heachd) men were driven from their kindred, and made
to imagine themselves undergoing marvellous adven-
tures and changing shape. Dogs crouched, or leapt
at their master's throat, in the presence of evil spirits,
PROTECTION AGAINST FAIRIES. 51
but they gave chase to the Fairies. Night alone was
frequented by the powers of darkness, and they fled at
the cock-crowing ; the Fairies were encountered in the
day-time as well. There was no intermarriage between
men and the other beings of superstition, but women
were courted and taken away by Fairy men, and men
courted Fairy women (or rather were courted by them),
married, and took them to their houses. A well-
marked characteristic is the tinge of the ludicrous that
pervades the creed. The Fairy is an object of con-
tempt as well as of fear, and, though the latter be the
prevailing feeling, there is observably a desire to make
the Elves contemptible and ridiculous. A person should
not unnecessarily provoke the anger of those who
cannot retaliate, much less of a race so ready to take
offence and so sure to retaliate as the Fairies. In
revenge for this species of terror, the imagination loves
to depict the Elves in positions and doing actions that
provoke a smile. The part of the belief which relates
to the Banshi is comparatively free from this feeling,
but the ' little people ' and changelings come in for a
full share of it. Perhaps this part of the superstition is
not entirely to be explained as the recoil of the mind
from the oppression of a belief in invisible beings that
may be cognizant of men's affairs and only wait for an
opportunity to exert an evil influence over them, but
its existence is striking.
CHAPTER II.
TALES ILLUSTRATIVE OF FAIRY SUPERSTITION.
LURAN.
This is a tale, diffused in different forms, over the
whole West Highlands. Versions of it have been
heard from Skye, Ardnamurchan, Lochaber, Craignish,
Mull, Tiree, differing but slightly from each other.
The Charmed Hill (Beinn Shiantd), from its height,
greenness, or pointed summit, forms a conspicuous object
on the Ardnamurchan coast, at the north entrance of
the Sound of Mull. On 'the shoulder' of this hill, were
two hamlets, Sginid and Corryvulin, the lands attached
to which, now forming part of a large sheep farm, were
at one time occupied in common by three tenants, one
of whom was named Luran Black {Luran Mac-ille-dhui).
One particular season a cow of Luran's was found
unaccountably dead each morning. Suspicion fell on
the tenants of the Culver {an cuilibheir), a green knoll
in Corryvulin, having the reputation of being tenanted
by the Fairies. Luran resolved to watch his cattle for
52
LURAN. S3
a night, and ascertain the cause of his mysterious
losses. Before long he saw the Culver opening, and a
host of little people pouring out. They surrounded a
grey cow {mart glas) belonging to him and drove it
into the knoll. Not one busied himself in doing this
more than Luran himself; he was, according to the
Gaelic expression, 'as one and as two' {inar a h-aon 's
mar a dha) in his exertions. The cow was killed and
skinned. An old Elf, a tailor sitting in the upper part
of the brugh, with a needle in the right lappel of his
coat, was forcibly caught hold of, stuffed into the cow's
hide, and sewn up. He was then taken to the door
and rolled down the slope. Festivities commenced,
and whoever might be on the floor dancing, Luran was
sure to be. He was 'as one and as two' at the dance,
as he had been at driving the cow. A number of
gorgeous cups and dishes were put on the table, and
Luran, resolving to make up for the loss of the grey
cow, watched his opportunity and made off with one
of the cups [corn). The Fairies observed him and
started in pursuit. He heard one of them remark :
" Not swift would be Luran
If it were not the hardness of his bread." ^
His pursuers were likely to overtake him, when a
friendly voice called out :
" Luran, Luran Black,
Betake thee to the black stones of the shore." ^
' Cha bu luath Luran '^ Lurain, Lurain Mhic-ille-dhui
Mar a bhi cruas arain. Thoir ort clacha du a chladaich.
54 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
Below high water mark, no Fairy, ghost, or demon can
come, and, acting on the friendly advice, Luran reached
the shore, and keeping below tide mark made his way
home in safety. He heard the outcries of the person
who had called out to him (probably a former acquaint-
ance who had been taken by 'the people') being
belaboured by the Fairies for his ill-timed officiousness.
Next morning, the grey cow was found lying dead
with its feet in the air, at the foot of the Culver, and
Luran said that a needle would be found in its right
shoulder. On this proving to be the case, he allowed
none of the flesh to be eaten, and threw it out of the
house.
One of the fields, tilled in common by Luran and
two neighbours, was every year, when ripe, reaped by
the Fairies in one night, and the benefit of the crop
disappeared. An old man was consulted, and he
undertook to watch the crop. He saw the shien of
Corryvulin open, and a troop of people coming out.
There was an old man at their head, who put the
company in order, some to shear, some to bind the
sheaves, and some to make stooks. On the word of
command being given, the field was reaped in a
wonderfully short time. The watcher, calling aloud,
counted the reapers. The Fairies never troubled the
field again.
Their persecution of Luran did not, however, cease.
While on his way to Inveraray Castle, with his Fairy
LURAN. 55
cup, he was lifted mysteriously with his treasure out of
the boat, in which he was taking his passage, and was
never seen or heard of after.
According to another Ardnamurchan version, Luran
was a butler boy in Mingarry Castle. One night he
entered a Fairy dwelling, and found the company within
feasting and making merry. A shining cup, called an
cupa cearrarach, was produced, and whatever liquor the
person having it in his hand wished for and named,
came up within it. Whenever a dainty appeared on
the table, Luran was asked, " Did you ever see the like
of that in Mingarry Castle ? " At last, the butler boy
wished the cup to be full of water, and throwing its
contents on the lights, and extinguishing them, ran
away with it in his hand. The Fairies gave chase.
Some one among them called out to Luran to make
for the shore. He reached the friendly shelter, and
made his way below high-water mark to the castle,
which he entered by a stair leading to the sea. The
cup remained long in Mingarry Castle, but was at last
lost in a boat that sank at Mail Point {Rutka MhdiP).
A Tiree version of the tale says that Luran entered
an open Fairy dwelling {brugJi), where he found the
inmates asleep, and a large cauldron, or copper, stand-
ing on the floor. He took up the kettle, and made off
with it. When going out at the door, the cauldron
struck one of the door-posts, and made a ringing noi.se.
The Fairies, sixteen men in number, started out of
56 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
sleep, and gave chase. As they pressed on Luran, one
of them (probably a friend who had at one time been
' taken ') called out, " Luran, Luran, make for the black
stones of the shore." He did so, and made his escape.
It was then the Fairies remarked : " Luran would' be
swift if it were not the hardness of his bread. If Luran-
had warm milk and soft barley bread, not one among
the sixteen of us could catch him."
According to the Lochaber story, the Fairies stole a
white cow from a farmer, and every night took it back
again to pasture on his corn. He chased them with
his dog Luran, but they threw bread behind them,
which the dog loitered to devour, so that it never over-
took the white cow. The Fairies were heard saying
among themselves, " Swift would be Luran if it were
not the hardness of his bread. If Luran got bread
singed and twice turned, it would catch the white cow."
The field where this occurred is known as the Field of
the White Cow [acha na bb bain), above Brackletter, in
Lochaber.
According to a Skye version, the Fairies came to
take with them the benefit {toradh) of the farmer's
land, but his dog Luran drove them away. One night
they were overheard saying, " Swift would be Luran if
it were not the hardness of his bread. If thin porridge
were Luran's food, deer would not overtake Luran."
Next day thin porridge, or ' crowdie,' was given to
Luran, and it ate too much, and could not run at all.
. • LURAN. 57
The Fairies got away, laughing heartily at the success
of their trick.
In Craignish, Argyllshire, Luran was a dog, old, and
unable to devour quickly the bread thrown it by the
Fairies. There are, no doubt, many other versions of
the story current, but these are sufficient to show the
want of uniformity in popular tales of this kind.
THE CUP OF THE MACLEODS OF RAASA.
In Raasa, a man, named Hugh, entered a Fairy
dwelling where there was feasting going on. The
Fairies welcomed him heartily, and pledged his health.
" Here's to you, Hugh," " I drink to you, Hugh "
{cleoch ort, Eoghairi), was to be heard on every side.
He was offered drink in a fine glittering cup.
When he got the cup in his hands he ran off with
it. The Fairies let loose one of their dogs after him.
He made his escape, and heard the Fairies calling
back the dog by its name of " Farvann " {Farbhann I
Farbhann !). The cup long remained in the posses-
sion of the Macleods of Raasa.
THE FAIRIES ON FINLAY'S SANDBANK.
The sandbank of this name (Bac Fhionnlaidh) on
the farm of Ballevulin, in Tiree, was. at one time a
noted Fairy residence, but, has since been blown level
with the ground. It caused surprise to many that no
traces of the Fairies were found in it. Its Fairy
S8 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
tenants were at one time in the habit of sending
every evening to the house of a smith in the neigh-
bourhood for the loan of a kettle {iasad coire). The
smith, when giving it, always said :
" A smith's due is coals.
And to send cold iron out ;
A cauldron's due is a bone,
And to come safe back."*
Under the power of this rhyme the cauldron was
restored safely before morning. One evening the
smith was from home, and his wife, when the Fairies
came for the usual loan, never thought of saying the
rhyme. In consequence the cauldron was not returned.
On finding this out the smith scolded savagely, and his
wife, irritated by his reproaches, rushed away for the kettle.
She found the brugh open, went in, and (as is recom-
mended in such cases), without saying a word, snatched
up the cauldron and made off with it. When going out
at the door she heard one of the Fairies calling out :
" Thou dumb sharp one, thou dumb sharp.
That came from the land of the dead,
And drove the cauldron from the brugh —
Undo the Knot, and lose the Rough." ^
She succeeded in getting home before the Rough, the
' ' ' Dlighe gobhainn gual
Is iarrunn fuar a chuir amach
'S dlighe coire cniimh
'Se thighinn slan gti tigh."
2 "A Gheur bhalbh ud, 's a Gheur bhalbh,
Thiinig oirnn a tir na marbh,
Dh' fhuadaich an coire o'n bhrugh, —
Fuasgail an dul is leig an Garbh."
THE FAIRIES ON FINLA Y'S SANDBANK. 59
Fairy dog, overtook her, and the Fairies never again
came for the loan of the kettle.
This story is given, in a slightly different form, by
Mr. Campbell, in his Tales of the West Highlands
(Vol. ii., p. 44), and the scene is laid in Sanntrai, an
island near Barra. The above version was heard in
Tiree by the writer, several years before he saw Mr.
Campbell's book. There is no reason to suppose the
story belongs originally either to Tiree or Barra. It
is but an illustration of the tendency of popular tales
to localize themselves where they are told.
PENNYGOWN FAIRIES.
A green mound, near the village of Pennygown
{Peigh'nn-a-ghobhanti), in the Parish of Salen, Mull, was
at one time occupied by a benevolent company of
Fairies. People had only to leave at night on the
hillock the materials for any work they wanted done,
as wool to be spun, thread for weaving, etc., telling
what was wanted, and before morning the work was
finished. One night a wag left the wood of a fishing-
net buoy, a short, thick piece of wood, with a request
to have it made into a ship's mast. The Fairies were
heard toiling all night, and singing, " Short life and
ill-luck attend the man who asked us to make a long
ship's big mast from the wood of a fishing-net buoy." '
' Diomaich is mi-bhuaidh air an fhear a dh'iarr oirnn crann mir luinge
fada dheanadh de mhaide bhola libn.
6o TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
In the morning the work was not done, and these
Fairies never after did anything for any one.
BEN LOMOND FAIRIES.
A company of Fairies lived near the Green Loch
{Lochan Uaine), on Ben Lomond. Whatever was left
overnight near the loch — cloth, wool, or thread — was
dyed by them of any desired colour before morning.
A specimen of the desired colour had to be left at the
same time. A person left a quantity of undyed thread,
and a piece of black and white twisted thread along
with it, to show that he wanted part of the hank black
and part white. The Fairies thought the pattern was
to be followed, and the work done at one and the same
dyeing. Not being able to do this, they never dyed
any more.
CAELUM CLARK AND HIS SORE LEG.
Some six generations ago there lived at Port Vista
{Port Bhisstd), in Tiree, a dark, fierce man, known as
Big Malcolm Clark {Galium vtor mac-a-ChleiricK). He
was a very strong man, and in his brutal violence
produced the death of several people. Tradition also
says of him that he killed a water-horse, and fought a
Banshi with a horse-rib at , the long hollow, covered in
winter with water, called the Leig. In this encounter
his own little finger was broken. When sharpening
knives, old women in Tiree said, " Friday in Clark's
CALLUM CLARK AND HIS SORE LEG. 6i
town " (^Di-haoine am baile mhic-a- Chleirich), with the
object of making him and his the objects of Fairy
wrath. One evening, as he was driving a tether-pin
into a hillock, a head was popped up out of the ground,
and told him to take some other place for securing his
beast, as he was letting the rain into 'their' dwelling.
Some time after this he had a painfully sore leg {bha i
gu doruinneach doirbh). He went to the shl'-en, where
the head had appeared, and, finding it open, entered in
search of a cure for his leg. The Fairies told him to
put 'earth on the earth' {Cuir an talanih air an talamli).
He applied every kind of earth he could think of to
the leg, but without effect. At the end of three months
he went again to the hillock, and when entering put
steel icruaidli) in the door. He was told to go out,
but he would not, nor would he withdraw the steel till
told the proper remedy. At last he was told to apply
the red clay of a small loch in the neighbourhood
{criadh ruadh Lochan ni'h fhonhairle). He did so, and
the leg was cured.
THE YOUNG MAN IN THE FAHiY KNOLL.
Two young men, coming home after nightfall on
Hallowe'en, each with a jar of whisky on his back,
heard music by the roadside, and, seeing a dwelling
open and illuminated, and dancing and merriment
going on within, entered. One of them joined the
dancers, without as much as waiting to lay down the
62 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
burden he was carrying. The other, suspecting the
place and company, stuck a needle in the door as he
entered, and got away when he liked. That day
twelvemonths he came back for his companion, and
found him still dancing with the jar of whisky on
his back. Though more than half-dead with fatigue,
the enchanted dancer begged to be allowed to finish
the reel. When brought to the open-air he was only
skin and bone.
This tale is localized in the Ferintosh district, and at
the Slope of Big Stones {Leathad nan Clacha mbra) in
Harris. In Argyllshire people say it happened in the
north. In the Ferintosh story only one of the young
men entered the brugh, and the door immediately
closed. The other lay under suspicion of having
murdered his companion, but, by advice of an old
man, went to the same place on the same night the
following year, and by putting steel in the door of
the Fairy dwelling, which he found open, recovered
his companion. In the Harris story, the young men
were a bridegroom and his brother-in-law, bringing
home whisky for the marriage.
Two young men in lona were coming in the
evening from fishing on the rocks. On their way,
when passing, they found the shr-en of that island open,
and entered. One of them joined the dancers, with-
out waiting to lay down the string of fish he had
in his hand. The other stuck a fish-hook in the door.
THE YOUNG MAN IN THE FAIRY KNOLL. 63
and when he wished made his escape. He came
back for his companion that day twelvemonths, and
found him st^ll dancing with the string of fish in his
hand. On taking him to the open air the fish dropped
from the string, rotten.
Donald, who at one time carried on foot the mails
from Tobermory, in Mull, to Grass Point Ferry {Ru-
an-fhiarain), where the mail service crosses to the
mainland, was a good deal given to drink, and con-
sequently to loitering by the way. He once lay
down to have a quiet sleep near a Fairy-haunted
rock above Drimfin. He saw the rock open, and a
flood of light pouring out at the door. A little man
came to him and said in English, " Come in to the
ball, Donald," but Donald fled, and never stopped till
he reached the houses at Tobermory, two miles off". He
said he heard the whizz and rustling of the Fairies
after him the whole way. The incident caused a good
deal of talk in the neighbourhood, and Donald and his
fright were made the subject of some doggerel verse,
in which the Fairy invitation is thus given :
" Rise, rise, rise, Donald,
Rise, Donald, was the call,
Rise up now, Donald,
Come in, Donald, to the ball."
It is well known that Highland Fairies, who speak
English, are the most dangerous of any.
A young man was sent for the loan of a sieve, and.
64 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
mistaking his way, entered a" brugh, which was that
evening open. He found there two women grinding
at a handmill, two women baking, and a mixed party-
dancing on the floor. He was invited to sit down,
" Farquhar MacNeill, be seated " {Fhearchair 'ie Neill,
bi'd shuidhe). He thought he would first have a reel
with the dancers. He forgot all about the sieve, and
lost all desire to leave the company he was in. One
night he accompanied the band among whom he had
fallen on one of its expeditions, and after careering
through the skies, stuck in the roof of a house.
Looking down the chimney {far-leus), he saw a
woman dandling a child, and, struck with the sight,
exclaimed, " God bless you " (^Dia gu d' bheannachadh).
Whenever he pronounced the Holy Name he was dis-
enchanted, and tumbled down the chimney ! On
coming to himself he went in search of his relatives.
No one could tell him anything about them. At last
he saw, thatching a house, an old man, so grey and
thin he took him for a patch of mist resting on the
house-top. He went and made inquiries of him. The
old man knew nothing of the parties asked for, but
said perhaps his father did. Amazed, the young man
asked him if his father was alive, and on being told he
was, and where to find him, entered the house. He
there found a very venerable man sitting in a chair by
the fire, twisting a straw-rope for .the thatching of the
house {sniomh siomain). This man also, on being
THE YOUNG MAN IN THE FAIRY KNOLL. 65
questioned, said he knew nothing of the people, but
perhaps his father did. The father referred to was
lying in bed, a little shrunken man, and he in like
manner referred to his father. This remote ancestor,
being too weak to stand, was found in a purse
{sporran) suspended at the end of the bed. On being
taken out and questioned, the wizened creature said,
" I did not know the people myself, but I often heard
my father speaking of them." On hearing this the
young man crumbled in pieces, and fell down a bundle
of bones {cual chndmK).
The incident of the very aged people forms part of
some versions of the story, " How the Great Description
(a man's name) was put to Death " {Mar a chaidh an
Tuairisgeul mhr a chur gu bds). Another form is that
a stranger came to a house, and at the door found an
old man crying, because his father had thrashed him.
He went in, and asking the father why he had thrashed
his aged son, was told it was because the grandfather
had been there the day before, and the fellow had
not the manners to put his hand in his bonnet to him !
BLACK WILLIAM THE PIPER.
William M'Kenzie was weaver to the Laird of
Barcaldine. He and a friend were going home with
two gallons of whisky in jars strapped on their backs.
They saw a hillock open and illuminated, and entered.
William's companion stuck a knife in the door when
66 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
entering. They found inside an old man playing the
bagpipes, and a company of dancers on the floor.
William danced one reel, and then another, till his
companion got tired waiting, and left. When, after
several days, M'Kenzie did not turn up, the other was
accused of having murdered him, and was advised, if
his story was true, to get spades and dig into the
hillock for his missing friend. A year's delay was
given, and when the hillock was entered M'Kenzie was
found still dancing on the floor. After this adventure
he became the chief weaver in the district ; he did more
work in a shorter time than any other. At the first
throw of the shuttle he said, " I and another one are
here " {inise 's fear eile so !). He also began to make
pipes, but though a better weaver and piper than he
had been before, he never prospered. He became known
as " Black William of the Pipes" {UilLeam du na piobd).
It is said in Sutherlandshire that a weaver, getting a
shuttle from the Fairies, can go through three times as
much work as another man. (Cf Tale of M'Crimmon,
P- 1 39-)
THE HARRIS WOMAN AND HER BAKING.
A woman in Harris was passing Creag Mhanuis, a
rock having on its face the appearance of a door, which
she saw opening, and a woman dressed in green stand-
ing before it, who called to her to come in to see a sick
person. The woman was very unwilling to go, but was
THE HARRIS WOMAN AND HER BAKING. 67
compelled, and went in without taking any precaution.
She found herself among a large company, for whom
she was immediately to begin baking bread, and was
told that when the quantity of meal, not very large,
given her was entirely used, she would be allowed to
go away. She began to bake, and made all possible ,
haste to finish the work, but the more she strove the
less appearance there was of the labour being finished,
and her courage failed when day after day passed,
leaving her where she began. At last, after a long
time, the whole company left for the outer world,
leaving her, as she thought, alone. When the last
tramp of their footsteps could no longer be heard, she
was startled by hearing a groan. On looking through
an opening which she found in the side of the dwelling,
she saw a bed-ridden old man, who, on seeing her head
in the opening, said, " What sent you here ? " "I did
not come by my own will," she replied. " I was made
to come to attend to a sick person." He then asked
what work was given her to do. She told him, and
how the baking was never likely to be finished. He
said she must begin again, and that she was not to
put the dusting meal {an fhallaid) at any time back
among the baking. She did as he told her, when she
found her stock of meal soon exhausted, and she got
out and away before the others returned, much to their
discomfiture.
A woman in Skye was taken to see a sick person in
68 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
a dim, and after attending to her patient, she saw a
n-umber of women in green dresses coming in and
getting a loan of meal. They took the meal from a
skin bag (balgan), which seemed as if it would never be
exhausted. The woman asked to be sent home, and
was promised to be allowed to go, on baking the meal
left in the bag, and spinning a tuft of wool on a distaff
handed to her. She baked away, but could not ex-
haust the meal bag; and spun, but seemed never nearer
the end of her task. A woman came in, and advised
her to " put the remnant of the meal she baked into
the little bag, and to spin the tuft upon the distaff as
the sheep bites the hillock " ^ — i.e., to draw the wool in
small tufts, like sheep bites, from the distaff On doing
this, the task was soon finished, the Fairies saying, " A
blessing rest on you, but a curse on the mouth that
taught you." ^ On coming out, the woman found she
had been in the dim for seven years.
LIFTED BY THE FAIRIES.
Black Donald of the Multitude {Ddnihnull du an
t'Sluaigh), as he was ever afterwards known, was
ploughing on the farm of Baile-pheutrais, in the island
of Tiree, when a heavy shower came on from the west.
In these days it required at least two persons to work
1 Cuir an fhallaid anns' a bhalgan, agus sniomh an toban mara chriomas.
a chaora an torn.
^ Beannachd dhuit-sa ach mollachd do bheul t' ionnsachaidh.
LIFTED BY THE FAIRIES. 69
a plough, one to hold it, and one to lead the horses.
Donald's companion took shelter to the lee of the team.
When the shower passed, Donald himself was nowhere
to be found, nor was he seen again till evening. He
then came from an easterly direction, with his coat on
his arm. He said the Fairies had taken him in an
Eddy wind to the islands to the north — Coll, Skye, etc.
In proof of this, he told that a person (naming him)
was dead in Coll, and people would be across next day
for whiskey for the funeral to Kennovay, a village on
the other side of Bally-pheutrais, where smuggling was
carried on at the time. This turned out to be the
case. Donald said he had done no harm while away,
except that the Fairies had made him throw an arrow
at, and kill, a speckled cow in Skye. When crossing
the sea he was in great terror lest he should fall.
Nial Scrob (Neil the Scrub), a native of Uist, was on
certain days lifted by the Fairies and taken to Tiree, and
other islands of the Hebrides, at least so he said himself
Once he came to Saalun, a village near the north-east
end of Tiree, and at the fourth house in the village was
made to throw the Fairy arrow. There is an old saying —
" Shut the north window.
And quickly close the window to the south ;
And shut the window facing west.
Evil never came from the east." '
' " Diiin an uinneaga tuath,
'S gu luath an uinneaga deas ;
'.S diiin uinneag na h-airde 'n iar,
Cha d'thainig ole riamh o'n airde 'n ear."
70 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
And the west window was this night left open. The
arrow came through the open window, and struck on
the shoulder a handsome, strong, healthy woman of
the name of M'Lean, who sat singing cheerfully at her
work. Her hand fell powerless by her side, and before
morning she was dead. Neil afterwards told that he
was the party whom the Fairies had compelled to do
the mischief In this, and similar stories, it must
be understood that, according to popular belief, the
woman was taken away by the Fairies, and may still
be among them ; only her semblance remained and
was buried.
About twenty years ago a cooper, employed on
board a ship, was landed at Martin's Isle {Eilein
Mhdrtiunn), near Coigeach, in Ross-shire, to cut
brooms. He traversed the islet, and then somehow
fell asleep. He felt as if something were pushing
him, and, on awakening, found himself in the island
of Rona, ten miles off. He cut the brooms, and a
shower of rain coming on, again fell asleep. On
awaking he found himself back in Martin's Isle.
He could only, it is argued, have been transported
back and forward by the Fairies.
A seer gifted with the second sight (taibhseis), resident
at Bousd, in the east end of Coll, was frequently lifted
by Fairies, that staid in a hillock in his neighbour-
hood. On one occasion they took him to the sea-girt
rock, called Eileirig, and after diverting themselves
LIFTED BY THE FAIRIES. 71
with him for an hour or two took him home again.
So he said himself.
A man who went to fish on Saturday afternoon at a
rock in Kinnavara hill {Beinn Chinn-a-Bharra), the
extreme west point of Tiree, did not make his appear-
ance at home until six o'clock the following morning.
He said that after leaving the rock the evening before,
he remembered nothing but passing a number of
beaches. The white beaches of Tiree, from the sur-
rounding land being a dead level, are at night the most
noticeable features in the scenery. On coming to his
senses, he found himself on the top 1, of the Dim at
Caolis in the extreme east end of the island, twelve
miles from his starting point.
A few years ago, a man in Lismore, travelling at
night with a web of cloth on his shoulder, lost his way,
walked on all night without knowing where he was
going, and in the morning was found among rocks,
where he could never have made his way alone. He
could give no account of himself, and his wanderings
were universally ascribed to the Fairies.
Red Donald of the Fairies i^Domhnull ruadh nan
sithekean), as he was called (and the name stuck to him
all his life), used when a boy to see the Fairies. Being
herd at the Spital {an Spideal) above Dalnacardoch in
Perthshire, he was taken by them to his father's house
at Ardlaraich in Rannoch, a distance of a dozen miles,
through the night. In the morning he was found
72 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
sitting at the fireside, and as the door was barred, he
must have been let in by the chimney.
An old man in Achabeg, Morvern, went one
night on a gossiping visit {cHlidh) to a neighbour's
house. It was winter time, and a river near the place
was in flood, which, in the case of a mountain torrent,
means that it was impassable. The old man did not
return home that night, and next morning was found
near the shi-en oi Luran na leaghadk in Sasory, some
distance across the river. He could give no account of
how he got there, only that when on his way home a
storm came about him, and on coming to himself he
was where they had found him.
When Dr. M'Laurin was tenant of Invererragan,
near Connal Ferry in Benderloch, at the end of last
century, " Calum Clever',' who derived his name from
his skill in singing tunes and expedition in travelling
(gifts given him by the Fairies), stayed with him whole
nights. The doctor sent him to Fort William with a
letter, telling him to procure the assistance of "his own
people" and be back with an immediate answer.
Calum asked as much time as one game at shinty
{aon taghal air a bhalP) would take, and was back
in the evening before the game was finished. He
never could have travelled the distance without Fairy
aid.
FAIRIES COMING TO HOUSES. 73
FAIRIES COMING TO HOUSES.
Ewen, son' of Allister Og, was shepherd in the Dell
of Banks {Coira BhaeaidK), at the south end of Loch
Ericht (yLoch Eireachd), d.x\d stayed alone in a. bothy far
away from other houses. In the evenings he put the
porridge for his supper out to cool on the top of the
double wall ianainn) of the hut. On successive even-
ings he found it pitted and pecked all round on the
margin, as if by little birds or heavy rain-drops. He
watched, and saw little people coming and pecking at
his porridge. He made- little dishes and spoons of
wood, and. left them beside his own dish. The Fairies,
understanding his meaning, took to using these, and let
the big dish alone. At last they became quite familiar
with Ewen, entered the hut, and stayed whole evenings
with him. One evening a woman came with them.
There was no dish for her, and she sat on the other
side of the house, saying never a word, but grinning
and making faces at the shepherd whenever he looked
her way. Ewen at last asked her, " Are you always
like that, my lively maid?"^ Owing to the absurdity
of the question, or Ewen's. failure to understand that
the grinning was a hint for food, the Fairies never
came again.
The Elves came to a house at night, and finding it
' Am bi thu mar sin daonnan, a bhuineagag ?
74 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
closed, called upon 'Feet-water' {uisge nan cas) i.e.,
water in which the feet had been washed, to come
and open the door. The water answered from some-
where near, that it could not, as it had been poured
out. They called on the Band of the Spinning
Wheel to open the door, but it answered it could
not, as it had been thrown off the wheel. They
called upon Little Cake, but it could not move,
as there was a hole through it and a live coal on
the top of it. They called upon the ' raking ' coal
{smdladh an teine), but the fire had been secured in
a proper manner, to keep it alive all night. This
is a tale not localized anywhere, but universally
known.
A man observed a band of people dressed in green
coming toward the house, and recognising them to be
Fairies, ran in great terror, shut and barred the door,
and hid himself below the bed. The Fairies, however,
came through the keyhole, and danced on the floor,
singing. The song extended to several verses, to the
effect that no kind of house could keep out the Fairies,
not a turf house {tigh phloc), nor a stone house {tigh
doicke), etc.
The Fairies staying in Dunruilg came to assist a
farmer in the vicinity in weaving and preparing cloth,
and, after finishing the work in a wonderfully short
space of time, called for more work. To get rid of
his officious assistants, the farmer called outside the
FAIRIES COMING TO HOUSES. 75
door that Dunvuilg was on fire.^ The Fairies immed-
iately rushed out in great haste, and never came back.
Of this story several versions are given in the Tales
of the West Highlands (ii. 52-4). In some form or
other it is extensively known, and in every locality the
scene is laid in its own neighbourhood. In Mull the
Fairy residence is said to have been the bold headland
in the south-west of the island known as Tun Bhuirg.
Some say the Elves were brought to the house by two
old women, who were tired spinning, and incautiously
said they wished all the people in T6n Bhuirg were
there to assist. According to others, the Elves were
in the habit of coming to Tipull House in the Ross
of Mull, and their excessive zeal made them very
unwelcome. In Skye the event is said to have occurred
at Dun Bhuirbh. There are two places of the name,
one in Lyndale, and one in Beinn-an-inne, near Druiin-
uighe, above Portree. The rhyme they had when they
came to Tapull is known as " The rhyme of the good-
man of Tapull's servants" {Rann gillean fir Thdbuill.)
" Let me comb, card, tease, spin,
Get a weaving loom quick.
Water for fulling on the fire.
Work, work, work."^
' The man in Flodigarry got rid of his Fairy assistants by telling them
to bale out the sea.
- Ciream, cardam, tlamam, cuigealam,
Beairt fhighe gu luath,
'S birn luadh air teine,
Obair, obair, obair.
76 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
The cry they raised when going away, in the Skye
version, runs :
" Dunsuirv on fire.
Without dog or man.
My balls of thread
And my bags of meal."'
A man, on the farm of Kennovay in Tiree, saw
the Fairies about twelve o'clock at night enter the
house, glide round the room, and go out again. They
said and did nothing.
THE LOWLAND FAIRIES.
The ' people ' had several dwellings near the village
of Largs 2 {Na Leargun Gallta, the slopes-near- the-
sea of the strangers), on the coast of Ayrshire (see
Introduction to Campbell's Tales of the West High-
lands).
Knock Hill was full of elves, and the site of the
old Tron Tree, now the centre of the village, was a
favourite haUnt. A sow, belonging to the man who
cut down the Tron Tree, was found dead in the byre
next morning. A hawker, with a basket of crockery,
was met near the Noddle Burn by a Fairy woman.
She asked him for a bowl she pointed out in his
' Dun-Bhuirbh ri theine
Gun chu, gun duine.
Mo chearslagan snath
'S mo phocanan mine.
'^The natives pre.serve the true name of the place when they call it
" The Lairgs. "
THE LOWLAND FAIRIES. 77
basket, but he refused to give it. On coming to the
top of a brae near the village, his basket tumbled, and
all his dishes rah on edge to the foot of the incline.
None were broken but the one which had been refused
to the Fairy. It was found in fragments. The same
day, however, the hawker found a treasure that made
up for his loss. That, said the person from whom the
story was heard, was the custom of the Fairies ; they
never took anything without making up for it some
other way.
On market-days they went about stealing here and
there a little of the wool or yarn exposed for sale.
A present of shoes and stockings made them give great
assistance at out-door work. A man was taken by
them to a pump near the Haylee Toll, where he danced
all night with them. A headless man was one of the
company.
They often came to people's houses at night, and
were heard washing their children. If they found no
water in the house, they washed them in kit, or sowen
water. They were fond of spinning and weaving, and,
if chid or thwarted, cut the weaver's webs at night.
They one night dropped a child's cap, a very pretty
article, in a weaver's house, to which they had come to
get the child washed. They, however, took it away
the following night.
In another instance, a band of four was heard
crossing over the bedclothes, two women going first
78 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
and laughing, and two men following and expressing
their wonder if the women were far before them.
A man cut a slip from an ash-tree growing near a
Fairj' dwelling. On his way home in the evening he
stumbled and fell. He heard the Fairies give a laugh
at his mishap. Through the night he was hoisted
away, and could tell nothing of what happened till in
the morning he found himself in the byre, astride on a
cow, and holding on by its horns.
These are genuine popular tales of the South of
Scotland, which the writer fell in with in Largs. He
heard them from a servant girl, a native of the place.
They are quoted as illustrations of the vitality of the
creed. They are not stories of the Highlands, but are
quite analogous. The student of such mythologies
will recognize in them a semblance to the Fairy tales
of the North of Ireland.
FAIRIES STEALING WOMEN AND CHILDREN.
The machair (or links) adjoining the hill of Kenna-
varra, the extreme south-west point of Tiree, is after
sunset one of the most solitary and weird places con-
ceivable. The hill on its northern side, facing the
Skerryvore lighthouse, twelve miles off, consists of
precipices, descending sheer down for upwards of a
hundred feet, with frightful chasms, where countless
sea-birds make their nests, and at the base of which
the Atlantic rolls with an incessant noise, which be-
STEALING WOMEN AND CHILDREN. 79
comes deafening in bad weather. The hill juts into
the sea, and the coast, from each side of its inner end,
trends away in beaches, which, like all the beaches in
the island, have, after nightfall, from their whiteness and
loneliness, a strange and ghostly look. On the land-
ward side, the level country stretches in a low dark
line towards the horizon ; little is to be seen and the
stillness is unbroken, save by the sound of the surf
rolling on the beach and thundering in the chasms of
the hill. It is not, therefore, wonderful that these links
should be haunted by the Fairies, or the timid wayfarer
there meet the big black Elfin dog prowling among
the sand-banks, hear its unearthly baying in the stormy
night-wind, and in the uncertain light and the squatter-
ing of wildfowl, hear in wintry pools the Banshi washing
the garments of those soon to die.
Some seventy or eighty years ago the herdsman
who had charge of the cattle on this pasture, went to
a marriage in the neighbouring village of Balephuill
(mud-town), leaving his mother and a young child
alone in the house. The night was wild and stormy ;
there was heavy rain, and every pool and stream was
more than ordinarily swollen. His mother sat waiting
his return, and two women, whom she knew to be
Fairies, came to steal the child. They stood between
the outer and inner doors and were so tall their heads
appeared above the partition beam. One was taller
than the other. They were accompanied by a dog.
8o TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
and stood one on each side, having a hold of an ear
and scratching it. Some say there was a crowd of
' little people ' behind to assist in taking the child away.
For security the woman placed it between herself and
the fire, but her precautions were not quite successful.
From that night the child was slightly fatuous, ,' a half
idiot ' {leth oinseacJi). The old woman, it is said, had
the second sight.
A shepherd, living with his wife in a bothy far away
among the hills of Mull, had an addition to his family.
He was obliged to go for assistance to the nearest
houses, and his wife asked him, before leaving her and
her babe alone, to place the table beside the bed, and
a portion of the various kinds of food in the house on
it, and also to put the smoothing-iron below the front
of the bed and the reaping-hook (buanaiche) in the
window. Soon after he had left the wife heard a
suppressed muttering on the floor and a voice urging
some one to go up and steal the child. The other
answered that butter from the cow that ate the pearl-
wort iinothan) was on the table, that iron was below
the bed, and the ' reaper ' in the window, how could he
get the child away ? As the reward of his wife's
providence and good sense the shepherd found herself
and child safe on his return.
A man in Morvern, known by the nickname of the
' Marquis ' {a mor'aire), left a band of women watching
his wife and infant child. On returning at night, he
STEALING WOMEN AND CHILDREN. 8i
found the fire gone out, and the women fast asleep.
By the time he had rekindled the fire he saw a Banshi
entering and making for the bed where his wife and
child were. He took a faggot from the fire and threw
it at her. A flame gleamed about his eyes and he saw
the Fairy woman no more. His wife declared that she
felt at the time like one in a nightmare {trom-a-lidhe) ;
she heard voices calling upon her to go out, and felt an
irresistible inclination to obey.
A woman from Rahoy {Ra-thuaitK) on Loch Sunart-
side was taken with her babe to Ben ladain (Beinn
ladain), a lofty hill in the parish of Morvern, rising to
a height of above 2000 feet, and at one time of great
note as an abode of the Fairies. Her husband had
laid himself down for a few minutes' rest in the front of
the bed, and fallen asleep. When he awoke his wife
and child were gone. They were taken, the woman
afterwards told, to the ' Black Door ' {a chhnihla dhu),
as the spot forming the Fairy entrance into the interior
of the mountain is called. On entering, they found
a large company of men, women, and children. A fair-
haired boy among them came and warned the woman
not to eat any food the Fairies might offer, but to
hide it in her clothes. He said they had got his own
mother to eat this food, and in consequence he could
not now get her away. Finding the food offered her
was slighted, the head Fairy sent off a party to bring
a certain man's cow. They came back saying they
82 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
could not touch the cow as its right knee was resting
on the plant bruchorcan (dirk grass). They were sent
for another cow, but they came back saying they
could not touch it either, as the dairymaid, after
milking it, had struck it with the shackle or
cow-spancel {burach ). That same night the woman
appeared to her husband in his dreams, telling him
where she was, and that by going for her and taking
the black silk handkerchief she wore on her marriage
day, with three knots tied upon it, he might recover
her. He tied the knots, took the handkerchief and
a friend with him, entered the hill at the Black Door,
and recovered his wife and child. The white-headed
boy accompanied them for some distance from the
Black Door, but returned to the hill, and is there still
in all probability.
Another wife was taken from the neighbourhood of
Castle Lionnaig, near Loch Aline [Loch Aluinn, the
pretty loch), in the same parish, to the same hill. She
was placed in the lap of a gigantic hag, who told
her it was useless to attempt escaping ; her arms would
close round her
" As the ivy to the rock,
And as the honeysuckle to the tree ;
As the flesh round the bone.
And as the bone round the marrow." ^
^ " Mar an eidheann ris a chreig
'S mar an iadh-shlat ris an fhiodh,
Mar an fheJ)il mun chnaimh
'S mar an cnaimh mun smior.''
STEALING WOMEN AND CHILDREN. 83
The woman answered that she wished it was an
armful of dirt the Fairy held. In saying so, she
made use of a very coarse, unseemly word, and, as no
such language is tolerated among the Fairies, the big
woman called to take the vile wretch away, and leave
her in the hollow in which she had been found, {an lag
san d' fhuaradh i) which was done.
A man in Balemartin, on the south side of Tiree
{air an leige deas), whose wife had died in childbed,
was sitting one night soon after with a bunch of keys
in his hands. He saw his wife passing and repassing
him several times. The following night she came to
him in his dreams, and reproached him for not having
thrown the bunch of keys at her, or between her and
the door, to keep the Fairies from taking her back
with them. He asked her to come another night, but
she said she could not, as the company she was with
was removing that night to another brugh far away.
Another, somewhere on the mainland of Argyllshire,
suspecting his wife had been stolen by Fairies, hauled
her by the legs from bed, through the fire, and out at
the door. She there became a log of wood, and serves
as the threshold of a barn in the place to this day.
A woman, taken by the Fairies, was seen by a man,
who looked in at the door of a brugh, spinning and
singing at her work.
A wife, taken in childbed, came to her husband in
his sleep, and told him that, by drawing a furrow
84 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
thrice round a certain hillock sunwise {deiseal) with
the plough, he might recover her. He consulted his
neighbours, and in the end it was deemed as well not
to attend to a dream of one's sleep {bruadar cadait).
He consequently did not draw the furrow, and never
recovered his wife.
A child was taken by the Fairies from KilHchrenan
iCill-a-Chreunain), near Loch Awe, to the sh'i'-en in
Nant Wood {CoiW an Eannd). It was got back by the
father drawing a furrow round the hillock with the plough.
H,e had not gone far when he heard a cry behind him,
and on looking back found his child lying in the furrow.
A trampling as of a troop of horses came round a
house, in which a woman lay in childbed, and she
and the child were taken away. At the end of seven
years her sister came upon an open Fairy hillock, and
thoughtlessly entered. She saw there her lost sister,
with a child in her arms, and was warned by her, in
the lullaby song to the child, to slip away out again.
" Little sister, little loving sister,
Rememberest thou the night of the horses ?
Seven years since I was taken,
And one like me was never seen,
lalai horro, horro,
lalai horro hi." '
^ " A phiuthrag, 's a phiuthrag chaidreach,
An cuimhne leal oidhche nan capull ?
Seachd bliadhn' on thugadh as mi,
'S bean mo choltais riamh cha-n fhacas,
lalai horro, horro,
lalai horro hi,"
READY WIT REPULSES THE FAIRIES. 85
READY WIT REPULSES THE FAIRIES.
A Fairy woman came to take away a child, and
said to its mother, " Grey is your child." " Grey is
the grass, and it grows," was the ready answer.
" Heavy is your child," said the Banshi. " Heavy is
each fruitful thing," the mother replied. " Light is
your child," said the Banshi. " Light is each happy
worldly one," said the mother, bursting into singing
and saying —
" Grey is the foliage, grey the flowers.
And grey the axe that has a handle,
And nought comes through the earth,
But has some greyness in its nature." ^
On finding herself outwitted the Banshi left.
A boy, a mere child, was left alone for a few minutes,
in the islet of Soa, near Tiree. The mother was
making kelp there at the time, and in her absence the
Fairies came and gave the child's legs such a twist that
it was lame {liiigacJi) ever after.
' " Is glas do leanamh." " Is glas am fiar 's fasaidh e." " Is trom do
leanamh." "Is trom gach torrach." "Is eutrom do leanamh." *' Is
eutrom gach saoghaltach sona."
" Is glas an duilleach 's glas am feur,
'S glas an tuadh am bheil a chas,
'S chaneil ni thig roimh thalamh,
Nach eil gne ghlaise na aoraibh."
The first two lines of this quatrain occur also in a song on the deceit,
fulness of women, by a young man, whose first love had forsaken him.
She " killed him with a stony stare," and merely asked, " whence comes
the sallow stripling ? " (Co ar tha'n corra-ghille glas '! ")
86 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
KINDNESS TO A NEGLECTED CHILD.
The Elves sometimes took care of neglected children.
The herd who tendered the Baile-phuill cattle on Hey-
nist Hill sat down one day on a green eminence {cnoc)
in the hill, which had the reputation of being tenanted
by the Fairies. His son, a young child, was along with
him. He fell asleep, and when he awoke the child
was away. He roused himself, and vowed aloud, that
unless his boy was restored he would not leave a stone
or clod of the hillock together. A voice from under-
ground answered that the child was safe at home with
its mother, and they (the ' people ') had taken it lest it
should come to harm with the cold.
THE bridegroom's BURIAL.
A young woman in Islay was promised in marriage
to a rich neighbour, and the marriage day was fixed.
She had a sweetheart who, on hearing this, said to a
brother older than himself that if he had means to keep
a wedding feast he would run away with the bride.
His brother promised him all he had, being thirty-five
gallons of whisky. On getting this, the young man
took the bride away, and gave a nuptial feast himself
that lasted a month. At the end of that time, when
he was taking a walk with his wife, an eddy wind was
seen coming. As it passed the young man was seized
with sickness, which in a short time ended in his death.
THE BRIDEGROOM'S BURIAL. 87
Before his death his wife said to him, " If the dead
have feehng, I ordain that you be not a night absent
from your bed." ^ The night after the funeral he came
back, to the consternation of his wife. He told her not
to be alarmed, that he was still sound and healthy
{slan fallain), that he had only been taken in the eddy
by the Lady of the Green Island {Baintigkearna 'n
Eilein Uaiue), and that by throwing a dirk at the eddy
wind, when next she encountered it, she would get him
back again. The wife threw a dirk at the next eddy
wind she saw, and her husband dropped at her feet.
He told he had been with the light people {sluagh
eutrom), and in the tomb in which they supposed him
buried would be found only a log of alder wood {inaide
fearna). His wife's relatives were sent for, and they
came, thinking the young widow had lost her wits
through grief The grave was opened, and an alder
stick found in the coffin instead of the body proved the
husband's account of his disappearance.
THE CROWING OF THE BLACK COCK.
A woman in Islay (the story was heard in Tiree)
was taken by the Fairies, leaving an infant who was
baptised by the name of Julia {Sile). To appearance
the mother died and was buried. Every night, how-
ever, she came back, and was heard singing to her
child. Her husband watched one night and caught
^ Ma tha tur aig marbh, nach bi thu oidhche dhith do leabaidh.
88 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
her. She told that by going to a hillock, which she
named, on a certain night he might recover her. He
went, taking with him, according to her instructions, a
black cock born in the busy time of year {coileach
du mdrff and a piece of steel {cruaidk). He found
the door of the brugh open, put steel in one of the
posts, entered, having the cock in his arms, and hid
himself in a corner. Towards morning the cock crew.
The head or principal Fairy caused a search to be
made, and ' Big Martin without clemency or mercy '
(Martuinn Mhr gun iochd gun trbcair) was found in the
brugh. On withdrawing the steel he was allowed to
go home, and his wife along with him.
THROWING THE ARROW.
A weaver at the Bridge of Awe {Drochaid Athd)
was left a widower with three or four children. He
laboured at his trade all day, and when the evening
came, being a hard-working, industrious man, did odd
jobs about the house to maintain his helpless family.
One clear moonlight, when thatching his house with
fern {ranack), he heard the rushing sound of a high
wind, and a multitude of little people settled on the
housetop and on the ground, like a flock of black
starlings. He was told he must go along with them to
' My informant could not say whether this was seed-time (mart cur an
t-sil) or harvest [mdri buain) probably the former (cf. Campbell's IVest
Highland Tales, ii., p. 98).
THROWING THE ARROW. 89
Glen Cannel in Mull, where they were going for a
woman. He refused to go unless he got whatever was
foraged on the expedition to himself. On arriving at
Glen Cannel, the arrow was given him to throw.
Pretending to aim at the woman he threw it through
the window and killed a pet lamb. The animal at
once cam.e out through the window, but he was told
this would not do, he must throw again. He did so,
and the woman was taken away and a log of alder-
wood {stoc fearnd) was left in her place. The weaver
claimed his agreement, and the Fairies left the woman
with him at the Bridge of Awe, saying they would
never again make the same paction with any man.
She lived happily with him and he had three children
by her. A beggar came the way and staid with him
that night. The whole evening the beggar stared at
the wife in a manner that made his host at last ask
him what he meant. He said he had at one time been
a farmer in Glen Cannel in Mull, comfortable and well-
to-do, but his wife having died, he had since fallen into
poverty, till he was now a beggar, and that the weaver's
wife could be no other than the wife he had lost.
Explanations were entered into, and the beggar got his
choice of the wife or the children. He chose the
former,^ and again became prosperous in the world.
^ It may interest the reader that the man (a shrewd enough person in
ordinary life) from whom this story was heard, adduced it as proof of the
existence of Fairies, of which he said there could be no doubt ; he had
heard the story from his father, who knew the weaver.
99 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
THE WOMAN STOLEN FROM FRANCE.
" MacCallum of the Humming Noise " {Mac Challum
a Chrbnain), who resided in Glen Etive subsequent
to the '45, was the last to observe the habits of
the Fairies and ancient hunters. He ate three days'
allowance of food before setting out on his hunting
expeditions, and when he got hungry merely tightened
his belt another hole. The Indians of Labrador are said
to do the same at the present day. These hunters can go
for nine days without food, merely tightening their belts
as they get thin. In MacCallum's time, a woman was for
seven years observed among the deer of Ben Cruachan,
as swift of foot and action as the herd with which she
consorted. A gathering was made to catch her. The
herd was surrounded by men and dogs, and on her
being caught, she was taken to Balinoe, where MacCallum
resided. There were rings on her fingers, from which
it was ascertained that she came from France. In-
quiries were made, and she was sent home by a ship
from Greenock. She had been taken away in childbed
doubtless by the Fairies. This story was believed by
the person from whom it was heard. He had heard it
from good authority, he said.
CHANGELINGS.
A young lad was sent for the loan of a corn
sieve to a neighbour's house. He was a changeling,
and in the house to which he went there was another
CHANGELINGS. 91
like himself. He found no one in but his fellow-elf. A
woman, in a closet close by, overheard the conversation
of the two. The first asked for the sieve, and the other
replied, " Ask it in an honest way (that is, in Fairy lan-
guage) seeing I am alone."'' The first then said (and
his words have as much sense in English as in Gaelic) :
" The muggle maggle
Wants the loan of the black luggle laggle,
To take the maggle from the grain. "^
The words are a ludicrous imitation of the sound
made by the fan in winnowing corn, and several
versions of them exist.
A child, in Skye, ate such a quantity of food,
people suspected it could not be ' canny.' A man of
skill was sent for, and on his saying a rhyme over it,
the changeling became an old man.
A changeling in Hianish (some say Sanndaig),
Tiree, was driven away by a man of skill who came,
and, standing in the door, said :
" Red pig, red pig,
Red one-eared pig,
That Fin killed with the son of Luin,
And took on his back to Druim-derg."^
^ larr air choir e, 's gun agam ach mi fhln.
^ Dh'iarr a mhugaill a mhagaill
lased an du-lugaill lagaill
Thoirt a mhagaill as an t-si61.
' " Muc dhearg, muc dhearg,
Muc leth-chluasach dhearg,
Mharbh Fionn le Mac-a-Luin,
'S a thug e air a mhuin gu Druim-dearg."
92 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
Drim-derg, or the Red Ridge, is a common in the
neighbourhood of Hianish. Fin's sword, ' the son of
Luin,' was of such superior metal that it cut through
six feet of whatever substance was struck by it, and an
inch beyond. Its peculiar virtue was " never to leave a
remnant from its blow." When the changeling heard
the bare mention of it, with the aversion of his race to
steel, he jumped, like a fish out of the water (thug e
iasg-leuin as), rushed out of the house and was never
seen again. The real child was found outside the
house.
A woman was told by her neighbours that her child,
which was not thriving, was a changeling, and that she
ought to throw it in the river. The imp, frightened bj'
the counsel, advised the contrary in an expression,
which is now proverbial, " Whether it be fat or lean,
every man should rear a calf for himself" (Atr dha bhi
reamhar na caol, is rnairg nach beathaicheadh laogh
dha fhtifi).
TAKING AWAY COWS AND SHEEP.
A farmer had two good cows that were seized one
spring with some unaccountable malady. They ate
any amount of food given them, but neither grew fat
nor yielded milk. They lay on their sides and could
not be made to rise. An old man in the neighbour-
hood advised that they should be hauled up the hill,
and rolled down its steepest and longest incline. The
TAKING AWAY COWS AND SHEEP. 93.
brutes, he said, were not the farmer's cows at all,,
but two old men ibodaicK) the Fairies had substituted
for them. The farmer acted on this advice, and at
the bottom of the descent, down which the cows were
sent rolling, nothing was found, neither cow nor man,
either dead or alive.
There are old people still living in lona who
remember a man driving a nail into a bull that had
fallen over a rock, to keep away the Fairies.
A man in Ruaig, Tiree, possessed of the second sight,
saw a wether sheep {molt) belonging to himself whirled
through the sky, and was so satisfied the Fairies had
taken it in their eddy wind, that he did not, when.
the animal was killed, eat any of its mutton.
DWELLINGS.
An old man kept a green hillock, near his house,
on which he frequently reclined in summer, very clean,
sweeping away any filth or cow or horse droppings he
might find on it. One evening, as he sat on the
hillock, a little man, a stranger to him, came and
thanked him for his care of the hillock, and added,
that if at any time the village cattle should leave their
enclosure during the night, he and his friends would
show their gratitude by keeping them from the old
man's crops. The village in these days was in common,
ridge about, and the Fairy promise, being tested, was
found good.
94 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
Of hills having the reputation of being tenanted
by Fairies may be mentioned Schiehallion {Sith-ckail-
lionn), in Perthshire, and Ben-y-ghloe {Beinn a Ghlothd) ;
and in Argyllshire, Stthein na Rapaich, ' the Fairy
dwelling of tempestuous weather,' in Morven and
Dunniquoich (/??/« Cuaich, the Bowl-shaped hill) Dun-
deacainn and Shien-sloy (sithein sluaigh, the multitude's
residence), near Inverary. The three latter hills are
in sight of each other, and the preference of the Fairies
for the last is mentioned in a popular rhyme :
Dun-deacainn is Duti-cuaich
Sithein sluaigh is Airde-slios ;
Nam faighinnsa mo roghainn de 'n triiiir
B'e mo rim a bhi san t-slios.
At the head of Glen-Erochty {Gleann-Eireockd-aidh,
the Shapely glen), in Athol, in Perthshire, there is a
mound known as Cam na Sleabkack, which at one
time was of much repute as a Fairy haunt. Alasdair
Challum, a poor harmless person, who went about the
country making divinations for his entertainers by
means of a small four-sided spinning top {dbduman),
was asked by a widow where her late husband now
was. Allistir spun round his teetotum and, examining
it attentively, said, " He is a baggage horse to the
Fairies in Slevach Cairn, with a twisted willow withe in
his mouth." ^
' Tha e na each bagais aig na slthchean an cam na Sleabhach, agus gad
seillich na bhialthaobh.
Alasdair used to say the men of the present day were very small
compared to their ancestors, and to prophecy with his teetotum, they
DWELLINGS. 95
A native of the Island of Coll went to pull some
wild-briar plants {fearra-dhris). He tried to pull
one growing in the face of a rock. The first tug
he gave he heard some one calling to him from
the inside of the rock, and he ran away without ever
looking behind. To this day he says no one need try
to persuade him there are no Fairies, for he heard
them himself
A shepherd at Lochaweside, coming home with a
wedder sheep on his back, saw an open cave in the
face of a rock where he had never noticed a cave
before. He laid down his burden, and stepping over
to the entrance of the cave, stuck his knife into a
fissure of the rock forming a side of the entrance.
He then leisurely looked in, and saw the cave full of
guns and arms and chests studied with brass nails,
but no appearance of tenants. Happening to turn his
head for a moment to look at the sheep, and seeing
it about to move off, he allowed the knife to move
from its place. On looking again at the rock, he only
saw water trickling from the fissure from which the
knife had been withdrawn.
A person who had a green knoll in front of his
house and was in the habit of throwing out dirty
water at the door, was told by the Fairies to remove
the door to the other side of the house, as the water
would continue growing smaller and smaller, till at last it would take
six of them to pull a wisp of hay.
96 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
was spoiling their furniture and utensils. He did this,
and he and the Fairies lived on good terms ever after.
In the evening a man was tethering his horse on
a grassy mound. A head appeared out of the ground,
and told him to drive his tether pin somewhere else,
as he was letting the rain into their house, and had
nearly killed one of the inmates by driving the peg
into his ear.
Beinn Feall is one of the most prominent hills in
the Island of Coll. It is highly esteemed for the
excellence of its pasture, and was of old much fre-
quented by the Fairies. A fisherman going to his
occupation at night saw it covered with green silk, spread
out to dry, and heard all night the sound of a quern
at work in the interior. On another occasion, similar
sounds were heard in the same hill, and voices singing:
" Though good the haven we left,
Seven times better the haven we found." '
A man who avoided tethering horse or cow on a
Fairy hillock near his house, or in any way breaking
the green sward that covered it, was rewarded by the
Fairies driving his horse and cow to the lee of the
hillock in stormy nights.
FAIRY ASSISTANCE.
A man in Flodigarry, an islet near Skye, expressed
a wish his corn were reaped, though it should be by
^ " Ged bu mhath an cala dh'fhag sinn,
Seachd fearr an cala fhuais sinn."
FAIRY ASSISTANCE. 97
Fairy assistance. The Fairies came and reaped the
field in two nights. They were seen at work, seven
score and fifteen, or other large number. After
reaping the field they called for more work, and the
man set them to empty the sea.
One of the chiefs of Dowart was hurried with his
harvest, and likely to lose his crop for want of shearers.
He sent word through all Mull for assistance. A little
old man came and offered himself He asked as wages
only the full of a straw-rope he had with him of corn
when the work was over. M'Lean formed no high
opinion of the little man, but as the work was urgent
and the remuneration trifling, he engaged his services.
He placed him along with another old man and an old
woman on a ridge by themselves, and told them never
to heed though they should be behind the rest, to take
matters easy and not fatigue themselves. The little
man, however, soon made his assistants leave the way,
and set them to make sheaf-bands. He finished
shearing that ridge before the rest of the shearers were
half-way with theirs, and no fault could be found with
the manner in which the work was done. M'Lean
would not part with the little reaper till the end of
harvest. Fuller payment was offered for his excellent
services, but he refused to take more than had been
bargained for. He began putting the corn in the rope,
and put in all that was in the field, then all that was in
the stackyard, and finally all that was in the barn. He
98 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
said this would do just now, tightened the rope, and
Hfted the burden on his back. He was setting off with
it, when M'Lean, in despair, cried out, " Tuesday I
ploughed, Tuesday I sowed, Tuesday I reaped ; Thou
who did'st ordain the three Tuesdays, suffer not all
that is in the rope to leave me." " The hand of your
father and grandfather be upon you ! " said the little
man, " it is well that you spoke." ^
Another version of the tale was current in Morvern.
A servant, engaged in spring by a man who lived
at Aodienn Mhr (' Big Face ') in Liddesdale, when
told to begin ploughing, merely thrust a walking-stick
into the ground, and, holding it to his nose, said the
earth was not yet ready {cha robh an talamh air ddir
fathast). This went on till the neighbours were
more than half-finished with their spring work. His
master then peremptorily ordered the work to be done.
By next morning the whole Big Face was ploughed,
sown, and harrowed. The shearing of the crop was
done in the same mysterious and expeditious manner.
The servant had the Association-craft, which secured
the assistance of the Fairies. When getting his wages
he was like to take away the whole crop, and was got
rid of as in the previous version.
An old man in Cornaig, Tiree, went to sow his croft,
^ " M^rt a threabh mi, mart a chuir mi, mart a bhuain mi ; Fhir a
dh'6rduich na trl mairt, na leig na bheil san r6p' uamsa." " Limh t'athar
's do sheanar ort, bha feum agad labhairt."
FAIRY ASSISTANCE. 99
or piece of land. He was scarce of seed oats, but
putting the little he had in a circular dish made of
plaited straw, called plddar, suspended from his shoulder
by a strap {iris), commenced operations. His son fol-
lowed, harrowing the seed. The old man went on
sowing long after the son expected the seed corn was
exhausted. He made some remark expressive of his
wonder, and the old man said, " Evil befall you, why
did you speak ? I might have finished the field if
you had held your tongue, but now I cannot go
further," and he stopped. The piece sown would
properly take four times as much seed as had been
used.
A man in the Ross of Mull, about to sow his land,
filled a sheet with seed oats, and commenced. He
went on sowing, but the sheet remained full. At
last a neighbour took notice of the strange pheno-
menon, and said, " The face of your evil and iniquity
be upon you, is the sheet never to be empty ? " When
this was said a little brown bird leapt out of the sheet,
and the supply of corn ceased. The bird was called
Tore Sana, i.e. ' Happy Hog,' and when any of the
man's descendants fall in with any luck they are asked
if the Tore Sana still follows the family.
A man in the Braes of Portree, in Skye, with a large
but weak family, had his spring and harvest work done
by the Fairies. No one could tell how it was done,
but somehow it was finished as soon as that of any of
loo TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
his neighbours. All his family, however, grew up
'peculiar in their minds.'
THE BATTLE OF TRAI-GRUINARD.
On 5th August, 1598, one of the bloodiest battles
in the annals of clan feuds was fought at the head of
Loch Gruinard, in Islay, between Sir Lachlan Mor
M'Lean, of Dowart, and Sir James Macdonald, of Islay,
for possession of lands forfeited by the latter's uncle,
of which the former had received a grant. Of the
M'Leans, Sir Lachlan and 80 of his near kinsmen and
200 clansmen were killed ; and of the Macdonalds,
30 were killed, and 60 wounded.^ According to
tradition, a trifling looking little man came to Sir
Lachlan, and offered his services for the battle. The
chief, who was himself of giant frame and strength,
answered contemptuously, he did not care which side
the little man might be on. The Elf then offered him-
self to Macdonald, who said he would be glad of the
assistance of a hundred like him. All day Sir Lachlan,
who was clothed from head to foot in armour of steel,
was followed by the little man, and on his once lifting
the vizor of his helmet an arrow struck him in the fore-
head at the division of the hair, and came out at the
back of his head. It proved to be one of those arrows
known as Elf-bolts. Macdonald was sorry for the
death of his rival, and after the battle made enquiry as
' Gregory's West Highlands and Islands, p. 285.
THE BATTLE OF TRAI-GRUINARD. loi
to who had killed him. " It was I " said the little man,
" who killed your enemy ; and unless I had done so he
would have killed you." " What is your name ? "
asked Macdonald. "I am called" he said, '' Du-sith"
{i.e. Black Elf),^ " and you were better to have me with
you than against you."
DUINE SITH, MAN OF PEACE.
A wright in the island of Mull, on his way home in
the evening from work, got enveloped in a mist. He
heard some one coming towards him whistling. He
entered into talk with the stranger, and was told,
a legacy would be left him, and would continue in the
line of his direct descendants to the third generation.
His grandson is unmarried, and well advanced in years;
to the credit of the whistler's prophecy.
Davie, a south country ploughman, or grieve, was
brought to Tiree, about the beginning of the present
century, by the then Chamberlain or ' Baillie ' of the
^ Tradition is pretty uniform that Sir Lachlan was killed by the arrow of
a little man, and the above is probably only a superstitious version of the
real circumstances. The story of powerful warriors, however, struck in the
forehead Vjy the arrows of little men, like the stories of Tell and the apple,
and Alfred and the cakes, is told of too many persons to be above the
suspicion of being a popular myth.
Tlie natives of one of the villages in Tiree are known by the nickname of
"Clann Du-shith" and "Sithbheirean." The assertion that Du-sith was
the ancient name of Duncan is incorrect, as one of those from whom the
village nickname was derived was called Donnchadh mor mac Dhu-shith.
The little man, who killed Lachunn Mor is also known as an t-ochdarann
iodaich, the eighth part measure of a carle.
I02 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
Island. Ploughing one day on Crossapol farm, he saw
before him in the furrow a very little man. Not
understanding that the diminutive creature was a Fairy,
Davie cried out in broken Gaelic, " What little man are
you ? Get out of that."
A former gardener in Tlr Mhine (Meal Land) in
Glenorchy, a good deal given to drinking, was crossing
Loch Awe one night in a boat alone. He saw a little
man sitting in the stern of the boat, and spoke to him
several times but received no answer. He at last
struck at the little man, and himself tumbled overboard.
Now, asked the old woman, who told this story, what
could the little man be, but a brughadair {i.e. one that
came from the Fairy dwelling, an Elf) ? To the reader
the case will appear one of simple hallucination
produced by ardent spirits, but it is of interest as
shewing the interpretation put upon it under a belief
in the Fairies.
BEAN SHITH, ELLE WOMAN, OR WOMAN OF PEACE.
While supper was being prepared in a farmer's
house in Morvern, a very little woman, a stranger to
the inmates, entered. She was invited to share the
supper with the family, but would take none of the
food of which the meal consisted, or of any other the
inmates had to offer. She said her people lived on
the tops of heather, and in the loch called Lochan
Fasta Litheag. There does not seem to be any loch
ELLE WOMAN, OR WOMAN OF PEACE. 103
of the name in Morvern. The name is difficult to
translate, but indicates a lakelet covered with weeds
or green scum. The little woman left the house as
she came, and fear kept every one from following her,
or questioning her further.
A woman at Kinloch Teagus {Ceann Loch T^acais),
in the same parish, was sitting on a summer day in
front of the house, preparing green dye, by boiling
heather tops and alum together. This preparation is
called ailmeid. A young woman, whom she had never
seen before, came to her, and asked for something to
eat. The stranger was dressed in green, and wore a
cap bearing the appearance of the king's hood of a
sheep {currachd an righ caoracK). The housewife said
the family were at the shielings with the cattle, and
there was no food in the house; there was not even a
drink of milk. The visitor then asked to be allowed
to make brose of the dye, and received permission to
do what she liked with it. She was asked where she
stayed, and she said, " in this same neighbourhood."
She drank off the compost, rushed away, throwing
three somersaults, and disappeared.
A young man, named Galium, when crossing the
rugged hills of Ard-nieadhonach (Middle Height), in
Mull, fell in with some St. John's wort {Achlusan Chal-
lumchille), a plant of magic powers, if found when neither
sought nor wanted. He took some of it with him.
He had diicun (small swellings below the toes) on his
104 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
feet, and on coming to a stream sat down and bathed
them in the water. Looking up, he saw an ugly little
woman, having no nostrils, on the other side of the
stream, with her feet resting against his own. She
asked him for the plant he had in his hand, but he
refused to give it. She asked him to make snuff of it
then and give her some. He answered, " What could
she want with snuff, when she had no nostril to put
it in ? " He left her and went further on. As he did
not come home that night his friends and neighbours
next day went in search of him through the hills. He
was found by his father asleep on the side; of a cnoc, a
small hillock, and when awakened, he thought, from
the position of the sun, he had only slept a few
minutes. He had, in fact, slept for twenty-four hours.
His dog lay sleeping in the hollow between his two
shoulders, and had ' neither hair nor fur ' on. It is
supposed it had lost the hair in chasing away the
Fairies, and protecting its master.
In what seems to be only another version of this
story, a herd-boy was sitting in the evening by a
stream bathing his feet. A beautiful woman appeared
on the other side of the stream, and asked him to pull
a plant she pointed out, and make snuff of it for her.
He refused, asking what need had she of snuff, when
she had no nostrils ? She asked him to cross the
stream, but he again refused. When he went home
his step-mother gave him his fdod and milk as usual.
ELLE WOMAN, OR WOMAN OF PEACE. 105
He gave the whole of it to his dog, and the dog died
from the effects.
A herdsman at Baile-phuill, in the west end of Tiree,
fell asleep on Cnoc Ghrianal, at the eastern base of
Heynish Hill, on a fine summer afternoon. He was
awakened by a violent slap on the ear. On rubbing
his eyes, and looking up, he saw a woman, the most
beautiful he had ever seen, in a green dress, with a
brooch fastening it at the neck, walking away from
him. She went westward and he followed her for
some distance, but she vanished, he could not tell how.
A person in Mull reported that he saw several Fairy
women - together washing at a stream. He went near
enough to see that they had only one nostril each.
The places in Tiree where cailleacha sith (Fairy
hags) were seen were at streams and pools of water
on Druim-buidhe (the Yellow Back), the links of Ken-
navara, and the bend of the hill (liibadh na beinne) at
Baile-phendrais. They have long since disappeared,
the islanders having become too busy to attend to
them.
A Skyeman was told by one of these weird women
never to put the burning end of a peat outside when
making up the fire for the night.
DONALD THRASHED BY THE FAIRY WOMAN.
A man in Mull, watching in the harvest field at
night, saw a woman standing in the middle of a stream
io6 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
that ran past the field. He ran after her, and seemed
sometimes to be close upon her, and again to be as far
from her as ever. Losing temper he swore himself to
the devil that he would follow till he caught her.
When he said the words the object of his pursuit
allowed herself to be overtaken, and showed her true
character by giving him a sound thrashing. Every
night after he had to meet her. He was like to fall
into a decline through fear of her, and becoming
thoroughly tired of the affair, he consulted an old
woman of the neighbourhood, who advised him to take
with him to the place of appointment the ploughshare
and his brother John. This would keep the Fairy woman
from coming near him. The Fairy, however, said to
him in a mumbling voice, "You have taken the plough-
share with you to-night, Donald, and big, pock-marked,
dirty John your brother," and catching him she ad-
ministered a severer thrashing than ever. He went
again to the old woman, and this time she made for
his protection a thread, which he was to wear about his
neck. He put it on, and, instead of going to the
place of meeting, remained at the fireside. The Fairy
came, and, taking him out of the house, gave him
a still severer thrashing. Upon this, the wise woman
said she would make a chain to protect him against
all the powers of darkness, though they came. He put
this chain about his neck, and remained by the fireside.
He heard a voice calling down the chimney, " I cannot
lONA BANSHI. 107
come near you to-night, Donald, when the pretty
smooth-white is about your neck."
lONA BANSHI.
A man in lona, thinking daylight was come, rose
and went to a rock to fish. After catching some fish,
he observed he had been misled by the clearness of the
moonlight, and set off home. On the way, as the
night was so fine, he sat down to rest himself on a
hillock. He fell asleep, and was awakened by the
pulling of the fishing rod, which he had in his hand.
He found the rod was being pulled in one direction
and the fish in another. He secured both, and was
making off, when he heard sounds behind him as of a
woman weeping. On his turning round to her, she
said, " Ask news, and you will get news." He answered,
" I put God between us." When he said this, she caught
him and thrashed him soundly. Every night after he
was compelled to meet her, and on her repeating the
same words and his giving the same answer, was
similarly drubbed. To escape from her persecutions
he went to the Lowlands. When engaged there cutting
drains, he saw a raven on the bank above him. This
proved to be his tormentor, and he was compelled to
meet her again at night, and, as usual, she thrashed
him. He resolved to go to America. On the eve of
his departure, his Fairy mistress met him and said,
" You are going away to escape from me. If you see
io8 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
a hooded crow when you land, I am that crow." On
landing in America he saw a crow sitting on a tree,
and knew it to be his old enemy. In the end the
Fairy dame killed him.
TIREE BANSHI.
At the time of the American War of Independence,
a native of Tiree, similarly afflicted and wishing to
escape from his Fairy love, enlisted and was drafted off
to the States. On landing he thanked God he was
now where the hag could not reach him. Soon after,
however, she met him. " You have given thanks," she
said, " for getting rid of me, but it is as easy for me
to make my appearance here as in your own country."
She then told him what fortunes were to befall him,
that he would survive the war and return home, and
that she would not then trouble him any more. " You
will marry there and settle. You will have two
daughters, one of whom will marry and settle in Croy-
Gortan {Cruaidh-ghortain, stone-field), the other will
marry and remain in your own house. The one away
will ask you to stay with herself, as her sister will
not be kind to you. Your death will occur when you
are crossing the Leige " (a winter stream falling into
Loch Vasipol). All this in due course happened.
About four generations ago, a native of Cornaig in
Tiree was out shooting on the Reef plain, and returning
home in the evening, at the streamlet, which falls into
TIREE BANSHI. 109
Balefetrish Bay, near Kennovay, was met by a Fairy
dame. He did not at first observe anything in her
appearance different from other women, but, on her
putting over her head and kissing him, he saw she had
but one nostril. On reaching home he was unable to
articulate one word. By the advice of an old man he
composed, in his mind, a love song to the Fairy. On
doing this, his speech came back.
MACPHIE'S BLACK DOG.
[This tale was taken down in Gaelic from the
dictation of Donald Cameron, Ruaig, Tiree, in 1863,
and is here given in his words as closely as a trans-
lation will allow. It is a very good specimen of a
class of tales found in the Highlands, and illustrates
many remarkable traits of the belief regarding the
Fairy women, their enmity to the hunter, their beauty
and powers of enchanting men at first, their changing
their shape to that of deer, and the aversion dogs have
to them ; also the size and character of the Fairy
hound.]
Mac-vic-Allan of Arasaig, lord of Moidart, went
out hunting in his own forest when young and
unmarried. He saw a royal stag before him, as
beautiful an animal as he had ever seen. He levelled
his gun at it, and it became a woman as beautiful as
he had ever seen at all. He lowered his gun, and it
became a royal stag as before. Every time he raised
no TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
the gun to his eye, the figure was that of a woman,
and every time he let it down to the ground, it was a
royal stag. Upon this he raised the gun to his eye
and walked up till he was close to the woman's breast.
He then sprang and caught her in his arms. " You
will not be separated from me at all," he said, " I will
never marry any but you." " Do not do that, Mac-vic-
Allan," she said, " you have no business with me, I will
not suit you. There will never be a day, while you
have me with you, but you will need to kill a cow for
me." "You will get that," said the lord of Moidart,
" though you should ask two a day."
But Mac-vic-Allan's herd began to grow thin. He
tried to send her away, but he^could not. He then
went to an old man, who lived in the townland, and
was his counsellor. He said he would be a broken
man, and he did not know what plan to take to get
rid of her. The honest old man told him, that unless
Macphie of Colonsay could'"send her away, there was
not another living who could. A letter was instantly
sent off to Macphie. He answered the letter, and
came to Arasaig.
" What business is this you have with me," said
Macphie, " Mac-vic-Allan ? "
Mac-vic-Allan told him how the woman had come
upon him, and how he could not send her away.
" Go you," said Macphie, " and kill a cow for her
to-day as usual ; send her dinner to the room as
MACPHIES BLACK DOG. in
usual ; and give me my dinner on the other side of
the room."
Mac-vic-Allan did as he was asked. She com-
menced her dinner, and Macphie commenced his.
When Macphie got his dinner past, he looked over
at her.
" What is your news, EUe-maid ? " said he.
" What is that to you, Brian Brugh,'' said she.
" I saw you, Elle-maid," said he,
" When you consorted with the Fingalians,
When you went with Dermid o Duvne
And accompanied him from covert to covert."
" I saw you, Brian Brugh," she said,
When you rode on an old black horse.
The lover of the slim Fairy woman,
Ever chasing her from brugh to brugh."
" Dogs and men after the wretch," cried Macphie, " long
have I known her."
Every dog and man in Arasaig was called and sent
after her. She fled away out to the point of Arasaig,
and they did not get a second sight of her.
Upon this Macphie went home to his own Colonsay.
One day he was out hunting, and night came on before
he got home. He saw a light and made straight for
it. He saw a number of men sitting in there, and an
old grey-headed man in the midst. The old man
spoke and said, " Macphie, come forward." Macphie
went forward, and what should come in his way but a
bitch, as beautiful an animal as he had ever seen, and
a litter of pups with it. He saw one pup in particular.
112 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
black in colour, and he had never seen a pup so black
or so beautiful as it.
" This dog will be my own," said Macphie.
"No," said the man, "you will get your choice of
the pups, but you will not get that one."
" I will not take one," said Macphie, " but this one."
" Since you are resolved to have it," said the old
man, " it will not do you but one day's service, and
it will do that well. Come back on such a night and
you will get it."
Macphie reached the place on the night he promised
to come. They gave him the dog, " and take care of
it well," said the old man, " for it will never do service
for you but the one day."
The Black Dog began to turn out so handsome a
whelp that no one ever saw a dog so large or so
beautiful as it. When Macphie went out hunting he
called the Black Dog, and the Black Dog came to the
door and then turned back and lay where it was before.
The gentlemen who visited at Macphie's house used to
tell him to kill the Black Dog, it was not worth its
food. Macphie would tell them to let the dog alone,
that the Black Dog's day would come yet.
At one time a number of gentlemen came across
from Islay to visit Macphie and ask him to go with
them to Jura to hunt. At that time Jura was a desert,
without anyone staying on it, and without its equal
anywhere as hunting ground for deer and roe. There
MACPHIE'S BLACK DOG. 113
was a place there where those who went for sport used
to stay, called the Big Cave. A boat was made ready
to cross the sound that same day. Macphie rose to
go, and the sixteen young gentlemen along with him.,
Each of them called the Black Dog, and it reached the
door, then turned and lay down where it was before.
" Shoot it," cried the young gentlemen. " No," said
he, " the Black Dog's day is not come yet." Thej'
reached the shore, but the wind rose and they did
not get across that day.
Next day thej' made ready to go ; the Black Dog
was called and reached the door, but returned where
it was before. " Kill it," said the gentlemen, " and
don't be feeding it any longer.'' " I will not kill it,"
said Macphie, " the Black Dog's day will come yet."
They failed to get across this day also from the
violence of the weather and returned. " The dog has
foreknowledge," said the gentlemen. " It has foreknow-
ledge," said Macphie, " that its own day will come yet."
On the third day the weather was beautiful. They
took their way to the harbour, and did not say a
syllable this day to the Black Dog. They launched
the boat to go away. One of the gentlemen looked
and said the Black Dog was coming, and he never saw
a creature like it, because of its fierce look. It sprang,
and was the first creature in the boat. " The Black
Dog's day is drawing near us," said Macphie.
They took with them meat, and provisions, and
114 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
bedclothes, and went ashore in Jura. They passed
that night in the Big Cave, and next day went to hunt
the deer. Late in the evening they came home. They
prepared supper. They had a fine fire in the cave
and light. There was a big hole in the very roof
of the cave through which a man could pass. When
they had taken their supper the young gentlemen lay
down, Macphie rose, and stood warming the back of
his legs to the fire. Each of the young men said he
wished his own sweetheart was there that night.
" Well," said Macphie, " I prefer that my wife should
be in her own house ; it is enough for me to be here
myself to-night."
Macphie gave a look from him and saw sixteen
women entering the door of the cave. The light went
out and there was no light except what the fire
gave. The women went over to where the gentlemen
were. Macphie could see nothing from the darkness
that came over the cave. He was not hearing a sound
from the men. The women stood up and one of them
looked at Macphie. She stood opposite to him as
though she were going to attack him. The Black Dog
rose and put on a fierce bristling look and made a
spring at her. The women took to the door, and the
Black Dog followed them to the mouth of the cave.
When they went away the Black Dog returned and
lay at Macphie's feet.
In a little while Macphie heard a horrid noise
MACPHIE'S BLACK DOG. 115
overhead in the top of the cave, so that he thought
the cave would fall in about his head. He looked up
and saw a man's hand coming down through the hole,
and making as if to catch himself and take him out
through the hole in the roof of the cave. The Black
Dog gave one spring, and between the shoulder and
the elbow caught the Hand, and lay upon it with all its
might. Now began the play between the Hand and
the Black Dog. Before the Black Dog let go its hold,
it chewed the arm through till it fell on the floor.
The Thing that was on the top of the cave went away,
and Macphie thought the cave would fall in about his
head. The Black Dog rushed out after the Thing that
was outside. This was not the time when Macphie
felt himself most at ease, when the Black Dog left him.
When the day dawned, behold the Black Dog had re-
turned. It lay down at Macphie's feet, and in a few
minutes was dead.
When the light of day appeared Macphie looked,
and he had not a single man alive of those who were
with him in the cave. He took with him the Hand,
and went to the shore to the boat. He went on board
and went home to Colonsay, unaccompanied by dog or
man. He took the Hand up with him that men might
see the horror he had met with, the night he was in
the cave. No man in Islay or Colonsay ever at all saw
such a hand, nor did they imagine that such existed.
There only remained to send a boat to Jura and
ii6 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
take home the bodies that were in the cave. That was
the end of the Black Dog's day.
A short tale, similar to the first part of the above
legend, is given in Campbell's Tales of the West
Highlands (ii. 52). A fairy changeling in Gaolin
Castle, Kerrera, is detected by a visitor from Ireland as
the Fairy sweetheart of a countryman — Brian Mac
Braodh. On being detected the Elle woman ran into
the sea from the point since called Rutha na Sirich.
The name Brian Brugh of the one tale and Brian Mac
Braodh of the other renders it probable the two tales
had originally more in common.
The expression, " The Black Dog's day will come
yet " ( Thig latha choindui fliathast^, has passed into a
proverb to denote that a time will yet come when one
now despised will prove of service. The English pro-
verb, " Every dog has its day," means that everyone
has his own time of enjoyment.
The Macphies or MacDuffies were Lairds of Colon-
say till the middle of the 17th century. In 1623
the celebrated Colkitto was delated for the murder of
umquhill Malcolm Macphie of Colonsay ; and one of
the race lies buried in lona, with the inscription on
his tomb
Hic Jacet Malcolumbus Macduffie de Colonsay.
If the same Malcolm is referred to in both cases.
MACPHIE'S BLACK DOG. 117
these traces of his fame, slight though they be, create
some presumption that he may be the person round
whom romance has gathered the incidents of the above
tale. In 161 5 Malcolm Macphie joined Sir James
Macdonald of Dunyveg, in Islay, in the last and un-
successful attempt made by the once powerful Clan-
donald of Islay and Cantyre to retain their possessions
from the Campbells. He was one of the principal
leaders of the rebels and a remarkable man. The
family was one of the oldest and most esteemed in
the West Highlands.
The following are other versions of the tale in
circulation. They are of interest when compared with
each other in showing the growth and character of a
popular tale.
Macphie of Colonsay was kept captive by a mermaid
in a cave by the shore. She supplied him with what-
ever he needed or desired, but he was not happy, and
took advantage of her absence to make his escape.
She missed him on her return and went in pursuit.
He had with him a large black dog, which he had kept
in spite of everyone's remonstrances. When the mer-
maid overtook him he threw it into the water and it
fought the mermaid. The end of the battle was that
the dog killed the mermaid and the mermaid killed
the dog.
This version is the one which supplied the ground
work of Leyden's beautiful ballad " The Mermaid."
n« TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
Considerable changes must have been made by him
upon the legend as it came to his hand. The dog,
which in all the versions is the principal character, is
left out ; Macphie's name is changed to Macphail ; a
magic ring (a thing unknown in Highland lore) is
introduced, etc. Leyden fell in with the version, of
which he made use, in his travels in the Highlands
in 1801.
Macphie of Colonsay was in an island hunting, and
in the course of his ramblings came to a hut, which he
entered. He found no one in, and threw himself on a
bed for a little rest. He was accompanied by a dog as
large as a year old calf A dark object idiithrd) came
to the door and the dog attacked it. The Thing
made a hideous screaming. When Macphie saw the
dog's hair beginning to smoke, he made his escape to
the boat that had come with him to the island.
Before long the dog came rushing after him, like a mad
beast, with a green flame issuing from its jaws. Mac-
phie had prepared himself for this .by loading his
double-barrelled gun^ with two crooked sixpences. He
fired the two shots at the dog, as it rushed to attack
him, and killed it. The Banshi, it had fought with,
was left cruelly mauled, and she crawled or dragged
herself to the shore, throwing rocks and stones out of
^ It is often observable in popular tales that articles of modern use are
ascribed to those who lived before their invention. Anachronisms are not
heeded in popular lore.
MACPHIES BLACK DOG. 119
her way. Her track is still known as the Carlin's
Furrow {Sgriob na CaillicJi). The boat left the shore
before she reached it. She tried to bring it back by
throwing a ball of thread after it, but without success.
This was in Islay.
Macphie of Colonsay, when he went hunting, was
met in a particular glen by a man who accompanied
him during the rest of the excursion. His companion
had a brindled bitch {galla riabhach), to which Macphie
took a fancy. He asked the man to sell it. " I will
not," said the man, " sell it to you or any one else, but
as you have rested your eye upon it, I will give it to
you for a while. It will have two pups, one like itself
and one black. The brindled one you can keep, but
the black one must be returned along with its mother.
You will meet me at this same spot on such a day."
Macphie took the brindled bitch home, and in due
time the animal had two pups, both very pretty.
When the time came, Macphie went back, according to
promise, to the place appointed, but instead of taking
the black pup, took the brindled one. The man said
to him, " You have not brought the Black Dog ; it
would have been better for you if you had ; but keep
it. It will give you but one night's service ; you
will not gain much by the Black Dog." After this the
Black Dog began to wither ; it grew large and tall but
lank and lean. The servants thrashed and kicked it
about, as if it never was likely to come to any good.
120 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
Macphie himself seemed to have an unaccountable
regard for it, and was very angry when he saw it
abused. Two gentlemen came to see him, with the
intention of taking him with them to hunt in some
neighbouring islet. On the morning of their intended
expedition they rose early, and were getting the guns
ready, when the Black Dog rose and whined and
fawned upon Macphie. On reaching the boat the
Black Dog was the first to spring on board. The
night became stormy, and the party were not able to
get home that night. They passed the night in a
cave. A noise as of walking was heard overhead, and
a Hand appeared through the roof as if to grasp one of
Macphie's friends. All the dogs fled into the corners
of the cave. Macphie himself had a Jew's harp (which
is said to be the holiest kind of musical instrument),
and when he played fast upon it the Hand drew back;
when he played slow the Hand came nearer. At last
he was almost exhausted. He called upon the Black
Dog, and the Black Dog rose. " My Black Dog," said
Macphie, " if you cannot do it now, I am undone."
The Dog attacked the Hand, and made it disappear.
It then rushed out and gave chase. It came back,
spotted and speckled, with its hair stripped off. When
the hunters got home on the following night the Dog
disappeared.
Macphie from Colonsay was cast ashore at Ormsaig,
in the district of Brolas in Mull, clinging to a log of
MACPHieS BLACK DOG. 121
wood. He stayed for some time at Ormsaig, and was in
the habit of going to the hill with his gun. A Fairy
woman met him there, and from her he received the
present of a young dog, which she said would yet be of
service to him, but only for one day. He had seven-
teen foster brothers, and, on his return home, they
came and asked him to go with them to shoot cor-
morants at the Paps of Jura. The Dog, which had by
this time grown very large, and had never before given
any indication of being useful, this day -eagerly accom-
panied the hunters. Macphie's wife had often urged
him to kill the dog, but he had insisted on keeping it.
When Jura was reached, a servant was left in charge of
the boats, and the company passed the night in a cave.
As they reclined round the cave, each expressed a
wish, that his sweetheart were there. Macphie, who
was standing by the fire, said he had no such wish, it
was better for his mistress to be at home. Before
long, seventeen women in green dresses entered the
cave, and went over to the beds of heather where
Macphie's foster brothers were, and Macphie heard the
crackling sound of breaking bones. The seventeen
women then came up, as if to attack himself Afraid
of their number, he called to the Black Dog, " if
you assist me not now, I am a lost man." The dog
attacked the women, drove them out of the cave, and
went off in pursuit.' Macphie fled to the boat, and
he and the servant left in charge quitted the shore
122 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
with all haste. When they were well out to sea, the
servant said there was a fiery star coming after them.
Macphie said it was the Black Dog, and its heart had
taken fire. He made ready, and when the dog over-
took them, cut off its head.
THE CARLIN OF THE SPOTTED HILL {Cailleach
Beinne Bhric).
The Fairy wife, who owned the deer of Ben Breck,
is well known in the Highlands.
It is told of her that on one occasion, as she milked
a hind, the animal became restive and gave her a kick.
In return she struck the hind with her open palm and
expressed a wish that the arrow of Donald, the son of
John (a noted hunter in his day), might come upon it.
That very day the restive hind fell to Do'il Macjain's
arrow. ^
It is also told of this Elfin wife that while three
hunters were passing the night in a bothy on Ben
Breck, the Carlin wife came to the door and sought
admittance. A dog that accompanied the hunters
^ This Db^il Macjain is probably the D^il du beag Innse-riiithe^ a
celebrated bowman and follower of Cameron of Locheil, and, as his name
denotes, a person of small stature, who, according to tradition, shot the
arrow that nailed the hand of Big Angus Macian (Aonghas Mor Mac'ic
Eoin) of Ardnamurchan, one of the most stalwart men of his day, to his
forehead, in Coir Ospuinn, in Morvern, circ. a.d. 1596. Others sa.y Jam
du beag (little black John) was the hunter whose arrow struck the hind.
Another (perhaps the same) celebrated Lochaber archer was Jain beag a
bhuilg bhain (little John of the white bag) from Coiruanain.
THE CARLIN OF THE SPOTTED HILL. 123
sprang up to attack her. She retreated and asked
one of the men to tie up his dog. He refused. She
asked him again, and a second time he refused. She
asked a third time, and he replied he had nothing to tie
it with. She pulled a hair out of her head and told
him to tie his dog with that, it was strong enough
to hold a four-masted ship at anchor. He pretended
to consent, and the hag, on trying again to enter, found
the dog was not secured. She then went away, saying
it was well for the hunter the dog had not been tied,
and threatening to come again. It does not appear,
however, that she ever came back.
She was last seen about twenty years ago in Loch-
aber. Age had told severely upon her. Instead of
being ' broad and tall,' she had become no bigger than
a teapot ! She wore a little grey plaid or shawl about
her shoulders.
DONALD, SON OF PATRICK.
Donald, the son of Patrick {Dbrnhnull Mac Pharuig),
or, as others say, the son of Lachlan, was a brocair,
that is, a foxhunter or destroyer of ground vermin, in
Lorn. Persons following this profession were employed
by the hill farmers, and had generally long tracts of
country to travel over. Their companions were their
gun, a pack of terriers, and perhaps a wirj' deer-hound.
With these they led as lonely a life as anyone who had
at all to descend to the strath and men's houses could
124 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
do. Many a lonely night they watched by the fox's
•cairn in some remote corrie for an opportunity ' to put
a hole in the red rogue's hide,' and they often passed
the night in bothies and shielings far from the haunts
of men. One day Donald, the son of Patrick, killed a
roe, and took it to a bothy in the hills. He kindled a
fire with the flint of his gun, and having cut up the roe,
roasted pieces of the flesh by a large fire. As he
helped himself, he threw now and then a piece to his
dogs. Before long he observed, the night being moon-
lit, a large dark shadow coming about the door, and
then a woman snatching at the pieces of flesh he threw
to the dogs. She had one tooth as big as a distaff
projecting from her upper gum. The dogs prevented
her entering the hut, so that she got but little of the
food. She asked Donald to leash up his dogs, and on
his refusing, cried out, " This is poor hospitality for the
night, Donald, son of Patrick.'' Donald answered, " It
will be no better and no worse than that." " You
proved expert at raising a fire,'' she said. " How do
you know ? " he asked. " I was," she said, " on the top
of the Cruach of Rannoch (a hill far away) the first
click you gave to the flint, and this is poor hospitality
for the night, Donald, son of Patrick." " It will," he
said, " be no better and no worse than that." In a
while again she said, " This is poor hospitality for the
night, Donald, son of Patrick." " Take," he said, " as
you are able to win." She remained all night, and
THE CARLIN OF THE SPOTTED HILL. 125
repeatedly asked him to leash up his dogs, which he
refused to do. The dogs kept her at bay till she
left.
Another version says that the foxhunter's name was
Iain Mac Pharuig, that he was accompanied by sixteen
dogs, that his strange visitant disappeared at the cock-
crowing, and that she then told she was ' the wife of
Fe-chiarain ' {Cailleach Fe-chiarain). Some identify
her with the Carlin of Ben Breck.
THE WIFE OF BEN-Y-GHLOE.
Donald and Big John {Dbrnhnull 's Iain inof) were
out deer-hunting on the lofty mountain of Ben-y-ghloe,,
in Athol in Perthshire, when a heavy snowstorm came
on, and they lost their way. They came to a hut in a
hollow and entered. The only one in was an old
woman, the like of whom they said they had never
seen. Her two arms were bare, of great length, and
grizzled and sallow to look at. She neither asked
them to come in nor go out, and being much in need
of shelter, they went in and sat at the fire. There was
a look in her eye that might ' terrify a coward,' and
she hummed a surly song, the words of which were
unintelligible to them. They asked for meat, and she
set before them a fresh salmon trout, saying, " Little
you thought I would give you your dinner to-day."
She also said she could do more, that it was she who
126 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
clothed the hill with mist to make them come to her
house. They stayed with her all night. She was very
kind and hospitable. She told her pame to them
when leaving, that she was ' the wife of Ben-y-
Ghloe.' They could not say whether she was sith or
saoghalta (Elfin or human), but they never visited
her again.
FAIRY WOMEN AND DEER.
On the lands of Scalasdal in Mull, a deer was killed,
which turned out afterwards to be a woman.
It is perhaps this belief in the metamorphosis of
Fairy women and deer that was the origin of the
tradition that Oisian's mother was a deer. In Skye it
is said that after the poet's birth his mother could
touch him but once with her tongue on the temple.
On that corner (air an Oisinn sin) a tuft of fur like
that of a deer grew, hence the poet's name. An infor-
mant in the centre of Argyllshire said he did not hear
Oisian's mother was a deer, but he had heard the poet
was nurtured by a deer. In the Northern Hebrides, a
5ong is sometimes heard which Oisian is said to have
composed to the deer.^
^ Several versions of the song vi^ill be found in Campbell's Leabhar na
Feinne, p. 198. According to the Skye tradition, the secret of Oisian's
birth was not knovifn till notice was taken of his never eating venison like
the rest of the host. On being questioned, he said, "When everyone
picks his mother's shank bone, I will pick my own mother's slender
shank bone."
acronicert's fairy wife. 127
o'cronicert's fairy wife.^
There was a man in Ireland, whose name was
O'Cronicert, and his dwelling place was Corr-water,
and he spent all he had on the great nobles of Ireland,
bringing them for days' entertainment and for nights'
entertainment, till he had nothing left but an old
tumble-down black house, and an old wife, and an old
lame white horse. The thought that came into his
head was, to go to the King of Ireland for assistance,
to see what he would give. He cut a cudgel of grey
oak in the outskirt of the wood, and sat on the back
of the old lame white horse, and set off at speed
through wood, and through moss, and through rugged
ground, till he reached the King's house. The custom
was, that . a man should be a year and a day in the
King's house before being asked the object of his
journey. After being there a year and a day, the
King said, " O'Cronicert, it is not without a cause for
your journey you have come here." " It is not," said
O'Cronicert, " it is for assistance I have come here.
You know it was for yourself and your great nobles I
spent my property entirely." "You will wait," said
the King, " till I bring in the children " ; and they
were there as men called them Murdoch Mac Brian, and
Duncan Mac Brian, and Torgill Mac Brian, and Brian
1 This version was originally taken down in Gaelic from the recitation of
Malcolm Sinclair, Balefuill, Tiree. The tale was known in Ireland, and
the reputation of it still survives very extensively throughout the Highlands.
128 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
Borr Mac Cimi, and his sixteen foster brothers with
every one of them. ,
" I will give," said Murdoch Mac Brian, " a hundred
milch cows to him."
" I will give," said Duncan Mac Brian, " a hundred
farrow cows to him, in case they should be in calf all
in one year."
"I will give him,'' said Torgill Mac Brian, "a hundred
brood mares."
" I will give him," said Brian Borr Mac Cimi, " a
hundred sheep."
After O'Cronicert got this, he was not going away.
The King told him to go away, that it was difficult to
keep his herd separate from the King's own, and to
take it away. He said to the King that he had one
thing in view, and if he got it from the King, he would
prefer it to all he had already got.
" It is certain," said the King, " it must be some bad
thing or other ; you had better tell it, that I may let
you away."
" It is," he said, " the lap-dog, that is out and in
after the Queen, that I wish for " ; and the King gave
him permission to take it with him.
He took the lap-dog, leapt on the back of the old
lame white horse, and went off at speed, without one
look at the herd, through wood, and through moss, and
through rugged ground. After he had gone some
distance through the wood, a roe-buck leapt out of the
O'CRONICERTS FAIRY WIFE. 129
wood, and the lap-dog went after it, and in an instant
they were out of sight.
Close upon the evening, he saw the lap-dog coming,
and a royal stag before it, and the deer started up as a
woman behind O'Cronicert, the handsomest that eye
had ever seen from the beginning of the universe till
the end of eternity. O'Cronicert caught her, and she
asked him to let her go, and he said there would be no
separation in life between them.
" Well," said she, " before I go with you, you must
come under three conditions to me " ; and he promised
to come under the conditions.
" The first condition is, that you will not go to ask
the King of Ireland or his great nobles for a day's or a
night's entertainment without telling me. The next
condition is, that you will not go to a change-house
without putting it in my option ; and the third thing,
that you will never cast up to me that you found me
an unwise animal (beathach mi-ckeillidh) in the wood."
They reached the old tumble-down black house, and
the wife he had left there was a faggot-bundle of bone?
in a pool of rain-drip in the middle of the floor. They
cut grass in clefts and ledges of the rocks, and made a
bed, and laid down.
O'Cronicert's wakening from sleep was the lowing of
cattle, and the bleating of sheep, and the neighing of
mares, while he himself was in a bed of gold on wheels
of silver, going from end to end of the Tower of Castle
I30 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
Town, the finest eye had ever seen from the beginning
of the universe till the end of eternity.
" It is no wonder," he said, " the like of this should
happen to me, when I found you an unwise animal in
the wood."
" As well as you broke that condition you will break
the rest ; rise, and drive the cattle away to pasture."
When he went out, there was no number to the
multitude of his flock, and on a day of the days after
that, while looking at the flock, he thought he would
go to ask the King of Ireland for a day and night's
entertainment. He sat on the back of the old lame
white horse, and went through wood, and moss, and
rugged ground, till he reached the King's house.
The King said to him, " Do you at all intend,
O'Cronicert, to take your flock with you ? They are
to-day so numerous that the herdsmen do not know
them from my own."
" No, I have no need of them. I have a larger stock
than yourself, and what has brought me is to ask your-
self and nobles for a day and night's entertainment."
The King said to him, " We are ready, my good
fellow, to go " ; and there were there, as men called
them, Murdoch Mac Brian, and Duncan Mac Brian, and
Torgill Mac Brian, and Brian Borr Mac Cimi, and his
sixteen foster-brothers with every one of them. It
was when they were near the house O'Cronicert
remembered he had left without telling her. He told
aCRONICERT'S FAIRY WIFE. 131
them to make their way slowly, and he himself would
go before to tell they were coming.
" You did not need, I knew very well that you
went ; let them come on, everything is ready."
When the King thought he had been seven days
and seven nights drinking there, he said to Murdoch,
his son, that it was time for them to be going. She
then said to the King that it was high time for him —
" You have been seven days and seven years in this
place."
" If I am," said he, " I need not go back ; there is
not a man or living creature awaiting me."
Murdoch had a foster-brother, whose name was
Keyn, the son of Loy {Kian Mac an Luaimk), and he
fell in love with O'Cronicert's wife. He pretended to
be ill and remained behind the rest. She made a
•drink for him and went with it to him, but instead
of taking the drink he laid hold of herself She
suddenly became a filly, and gave him a kick and
broke his leg. She took with her the tower of Castle
Town as an armful on her shoulder and a light burden
on her back, and left him in the old tumble-down black
house, in a pool of rain-drip, in the middle of the floor.
In the parting O'Cronicert went to the change-house
to bid the party good-bye, and it was then Murdoch
Mac Brian remembered he had left his own foster-
birother, Keyn, the son of Loy, behind, and said there
■would be no separation in life between them, and he
132 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
would go back for him. He found Keyn in the old
tumble-down black house, in the middle of the floor,
in a pool of rain-water, with his leg broken ; and he
said the earth would make a nest in his sole, and the
sky a nest in his head, if he did not find a man who
would cure Keyn's leg.
The rest of the tale consists principally of true tales,
necessary to be told, before Keyn will consent to
stretch his leg for a salve to be applied to it. The
King of Lochlin, or, according to others, the King of
Ireland, who is bound not to allow any one to remain
in distress, when he can relieve, tells a series of marvel-
lous adventures that befell himself, all jointing into one
another, before Keyn stretches his foot. The com-
position is of a kindred character with the Arabian
Nights' Entertaimnent.
The reader will observe that in this tale, as in that
of " Macphie's Black Dog," the Fairy wife is first en-
countered in the shape of a deer, that (as is alleged of
her race in other tales) she dislikes being reproached
with not being of mortal race, and calls up in one
night a palace of enchanting magnificence, in which
time passes unobserved, and in the end disappears,
leaving matters worse than at the beginning.
THE GRUAGACH BAN.
In Campbell's West Highland Tales (ii. 410) will be
found a tale also highly illustrative of this part of the
THE GRUAGACH BAN. 133
superstition. The hero of the tale, the Fair Long-
haired One, son of the King of Ireland, encounters a
woman with a narrow green kirtle (the Fairy dress),
and after playing cards with her, is placed under the
following spell : — " I place thee under enchantments
and crosses, under the nine shackles of the roaming,
wandering Fairy dame, that the most stunted and
weakliest little calf take off your head, and your ears,
and your livelihood, if you rest night or day, where
you take your breakfast, that you will not take your
dinner, and where you take your dinner, you will not
take your supper, till you find out the place I am in,
under the four red divisions of the world." ^
There is also in the tale an Elfin old woman, the
Carlin of the Red Stream, who is of the same class
with the old wife of Ben Breck. She has a wonderful
deer, which she can restore to life if she can get any of
its flesh as juice to taste, and her yells split the iron
hoops the prudent Fin had put round his men's heads
in anticipation .of her outcries.
DEER KILLED AT NIGHT.
Big Hugh, of Ardchyle {Ebghan mbr aird-a-ckaoil),
in the east of the island of Mull, a noted deer-hunter
1 This rendering of the popular incantation differs somewhat from that
given by Mr. Campbell himself. The Gaelic version is the best the writer
has been able to fall in with. Var. An laogh niaol carrach is miosa na
ainm, "the polled-scabbed calf, that is worse than its name, take off your
head," etc.
134 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
in his day, killed a deer at Torness {Torr-an-Eas, the
eminence' by the ravine), some seven miles away in
Glenmore, and conveyed it home at night. He was
accompanied by a man of the name of Sinclair.
Sinclair asked him if the deer was heavy, and Big
Hugh said he felt as if he had a house on his back.
Sinclair then stuck his pen-knife in the deer, and asked
again if the burden felt heavy. Big Hugh said it was
now so light he could hardly believe he had a burden
on his back at all. The weight had been laid on by
the Fairies.
FAIRIES AND GOATS.
In Breadalbane and the Highlands of Perthshire it is
said the Fairies live on goat's milk. A goat was taken
home by a man in Strathfillan, in Perthshire, to be
killed. In the evening a stranger, dressed in green,
came to the door. He was asked to enter and rest
himself. He said he could not, as he was in a hurry,
and on his way to Dunbuck (a celebrated Fairy haunt
near Dunbarton), an urgent message having come for
him. He said that many a day that goat had kept
him in milk. He then disappeared. He could be
nothing but a Fairy.
FAIRIES AND COWS.
A Strong-minded headstrong woman in Kianish,
Tiree, had a cow, the milk of which strangely failed.
FAIRIES AND COWS. 135
Suspecting that the cow was being milked by someone
during the night, she sat up and watched. She saw
a woman dressed in green coming noiselessly and
milking the cow. She came behind and caught her.
In explanation the Fairy woman said she had a child
lying in the smallpox, and as a favour asked to be
allowed to milk the cow for one month, till the
child got better. This was allowed, and when the
month was out, the cow's milk became as plentiful as
ever.
That the Fairies took away cows at night in order
to milk them, and sent them back in the morning,
was a belief in Craignish, Morvern, Tiree, Lochaber,
and probably in the whole Highlands. When milk
lost its virtue, and yielded neither cream, nor butter,
nor cheese, the work was that of witches and such like
diabolical agencies. When the mischief was done by
the Fairies the whole milk disappeared.
FAIRY cows.
A strong man named Dugald Campbell was one
night, about the end of last century, watching the cattle
on the farm of Baile-phuill, in the west of Tiree. A
little red cow came among the herd and was attacked
by the other cows. It fled and they followed. Dugald
also set off in pursuit. Sometimes the little red cow-
seemed near, sometimes far away. At last it entered
the face of a rock, and one of the other cows followed
136 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
and was never again seen. The whole herd would
have followed had not Dugald intercepted them.
A poor person's cow, in Skye, was by some act of
oppression taken from him. That night the Fairies
brought him another cow, remarkable only in having
green water weeds upon it. This cow throve.
Some four generations ago cows came ashore on
Nisibost beach, on the farm of Loscantire {Losg-an-tir),
in Harris. The people got between them and the
shore, with such weapons as they could get, and kept
them from returning to the sea again. Even handfuls
of sand thrown between the cows and the shore kept
them back. These sea-cows were in all respects like
ordinary highland cattle but were supposed to live
under the sea on the sea-weed called meillich. They
were called Fairy cows (Cro sitk), and the superiority
of the Loscantire cattle was said to have originated
from them. It is more probable the superiority of
the stock was the origin of the Fairy cattle.
Cows of the same kind were also said to have come
ashore in Bernera, in Uist, and at MacNicol's Big
Rock {Creag rnhbr mhic Neacail), on the farm of
Scorrybreck, in Skye. In the latter place they were
kept from returning by tossing earth between them
and the sea. Earth from a burying-ground was
thought to be the most effective in such cases. On
the evening of the day on which the cows came
ashore a voice was heard from the sea calling them
FAIRY COWS. ' 137
by name. From the rhyme in which this was done
we learn the cows were of different colours, one black,
another brown, brindled, red, white-faced, etc. :
Sisgein, Brisgein,
Meangan, Meodhran,
Bo dhu, bo dhonn
Bo chrom riabhach
Sliochd na h-aona bhk maoile ruaidhe,
Nach d' fhkg buaile riasnh na h-aonar ;
Bo chipnnan Thonn,
E bhlkrag.
THE THIRSTY PLOUGHMAN.
A ploughman while engaged at his work heard, or
fancied he heard, a sound of churning, and said he
wished his thirst "was on the dairymaid." In a short
time after a woman appeared and offered him a drink
of buttermilk. Her green dress and sudden appear-
ance made him refuse the offer, and she said that
next year he would not need the drink. When the
twelve months were nearly out the man died.^
THE FAIRY CHURNING.
A woman, near Portree, in Skye, was coming home
in the evening with her milk pails from the cattle
fold, accompanied by a dog, which went trotting along
^ This version of the story is from Skye. A version from Uist is given
in Campbell's Tales of the West Highlands, ii. 68. It varies merely in
representing the thirsty man as a traveller, who,, in consequence of refusing
from the Fairy the drink for which he had wished, was drowned at the
next ferry.
138 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
before her. Suddenly the dog was observed to run
to a green hillock, fall down on its knees, and hold
its ear to the ground. The woman went up to see
what the matter was, and on listening heard a
woman inside the hillock churning milk, and singing
at her work. At the end of every verse there was a
chorus or exclamation of hit. The song was learnt
by the listener, and became known as the " Song of
the Hillock " {Oran a chnuic). The writer has not
been able to fall in with a copy of it. The incident
occurred three generations ago.
MILK SPILT.
There was a Fairy hillock near Dowart, in Mull,
close to the road which led from the cattle fold to
the village. If any milk was spilt by the dairymaids
on their way home with the milk pails, it was a
common saying that the Fairies would get its benefit.
FAIRY MUSIC.
Two children, a brother and sister, went on a moon-
light winter's night to Kennavarra Hill, to look after a
snare they had set for little birds in a hollow near a
stream. The ground was covered with snow, and when
the two had descended into the hollow, they heard most
beautiful music coming from under ground, close to
where they were standing. In the extremit)' of terror
both fled. The boy went fastest, and never looked
FAIRY MUSIC. 139
behind him. The girl was at first encumbered by her
father's big shoes, which she had put on for the occa-
sion, but, throwing them off, she reached home with a
panting heart, not long after her brother. The story
was told by her when an old woman. She had never
forgot the fright the Fairy music gave her in child-
hood.
In the Braes of Portree there is a hillock called
"The Fairy Dwelling of the Pretty Hill" {Sithein
Beinne BoidhicK). A man passing near it in the even-
ing heard from underground the most delightful music
ever heard. He could not, however, tell the exact spot
from which the sound emanated.
Sounds of exquisite music, as if played by a piper
marching at the head of a procession, used to be heard
going underground from the Harp Hillock to the top
of the Dim of Caolis, in the east end of Tiree. Many
tunes, of little poetical, whatever be their musical merit,
said to have been learned from the Fairies, are to be
heard. One of these, which the writer heard, seemed
to consist entirely of variations upon the word
' do-leedl'em.'
MACCRIMMON.
The MacCrimmons were pipers to Macleod, of
Macleod, and the most celebrated musicians among the
Scottish Gael. The founder of the family is said to have
been an Italian harper from Cremona, who came with
140 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
Macleod to Dunvegan, and took the surname from his
native town. There are several versions of the story,
which ascribes the excellence of the MacCrimmons in
music to the Fairies. The following two will suffice.
The first of the MacCrimmons, when a young lad,
was sent to a music master to learn bagpipe playing.
There was to be a competition of pipers at a wedding
in the neighbourhood, and MacCrimmon asked from
his master permission to attend, but was refused. He
resolved to go notwithstanding, and set off alone, taking
a short cut across the hills. On the way he fell in with
a Fairy dwelling, which he entered. He found no
person in but an old woman, who spoke kindly to him,
saying she knew the object of his journey, and, on his
promising to go half loss and gain with her, gave him a
black chanter, which, placed in his pipes, would enable
him to excel his master, and every other performer.
She added that she and her people were about to re-
move from their present dwelling, but, if he came on a
certain night (naming one near at hand), they would
have time to give him some lessons. To this one
night's instruction, and the magic chanter, which re-
mained in the family as an heirloom, the MacCrimmons
were indebted for their acknowledged superiority as
pipers. Their fame will last " while wind is blown into
sheepskin.''
' The Blind Piper ' {ant Piobaire dall) was the first
of the MacCrimmons who acquired fame as a piper.
MACCRIMMON. 141
Two Banshis found him sleeping in the open air, and
one of them blinded one of his eyes. The second
Banshi asked that the other eye might be spared. It,
however, was blinded also. The benevolent .Fairy then
suggested that some gift should be given that would
enable the poor man to earn his living. On this the
Fairy Carlin gave MacCrimmon a brindled chanter,
which, placed in the bagpipes, enabled the player to
outrival all pipers. When the Laird of Dungallon
obtained the brindled chanter for his own piper
Macintyre, flie MacCrimmons never did well after.
The chanter was last known to be at Callart.
Mac-an-sgialaiche, pipers at Taymouth Castle, were
also said to have got their pipes from the Fairies.
FAIRY DOGS (' CU SITH ').
A large black dog, passing by with a noiseless and
gliding motion, was a common object of terror in the
Hebrides on winter nights. The coil in the animal's
tail was alone sufficiently alarming. Much of its shape
depended, no doubt, on how his own hair hung over
the eyes of the frightened spectator.
A man, coming across the links near Kennavara
Hill in Tiree, came upon a large black dog, resting on
the side of a sandbank. On observing it, he turned
aside, and took another road home. Next day he
recovered courage, and went to examine the spot. He
found on the sand the marks of a dog's paw, as large
142 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
as the spread of his palm. He followed these huge
footmarks till he lost them on the plain. The dog had
taken no notice of him, and he felt assured, from its
size, it could be no earthly hound.
On the north shore of Tiree there is a beach of more
than a mile in length, called Cladach a Ckrbgain, well
calculated to be the scene of strange terrors. The
extensive plain (about 1500 acres in extent), of which
it forms the northern fringe, is almost a dead level, and
in instances of very high flood-tides, with north-west
gales of wind, the sea has been known to overflow it,
and join the sea on the south side, three miles away,
dividing Tiree into two islands. The upper part of the
beach consists of loose round stones, a little larger than
a goose's egg, which make, when the tide is in, and
under the influence of the restless surf, a hoarse
rumbling sound, sufficiently calculated, with the ac-
companiment of strange scenery, to awaken the
imagination. An old woman, half- a -century ago,
asserted that, when a young girl, she had heard on
this beach the bark of the Fairy hound. Her father's
house was at a place called Fidden, of which no trace
now remains beyond the name of the Fidden Gate
{Cachla nam Fideari), given to a spot where there is no
gate. It was after night-fall, and she was playing out
about the doors, when she was suddenly startled by a
loud sound, like the baying of a dog, only much louder,
from the other end of the shore. She remembered her
FAIRY DOGS. 143
father having come and taken hold of her hand, ajid
running with her to the house, for if the dog was heard
to bark thrice, it would overtake them. It made a
noise like a horse galloping.
At the foot of Heynish Hill, in the extreme south-
west of Tiree, there is one of those small forts to be
found in great numbers in the Hebrides (and said to
have been intended, by fires lighted upon them, to give
warning of the approach of the Danes), called Shiadar
Fort. In former days a family resided, or was out at
the summer shielings, near this fort. The byre, in
which the milch cows were kept, was some distance
from the dwelling-house, and two boys of the family
slept there to take care of the cows. One night a
voice came to the mother of the family that the two
best calves in the byre were at the point of death, and
as a proof of the warning, she would find the big
yellow cow dead at the end of the house. This proved
to be the case, and on reaching the byre the anxious
woman found her two boys nearly frightened to death.
They said they heard Fairy dogs trampling and baying
on the top of the house.
There is a natural recess in the rocks of the shore at
Baluaig in Tiree, to which tradition has given the name
of the Bed of the Fairy Dog. It is not far from
Crogan beach, already mentioned as a place where the
Fairy dog was heard, and opposite the Grador, a low-
water rock over which the sea breaks with terrible
144 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
violence in stormy weather. The loneliness and wild-
ness of the spot rnight well cause it to be associated
with tales of superstition.
A shepherd in Lorn came to the top of a rock, and
in a nest or lair below him he saw two pups about two
months old with green backs and sides. They were
larger and longer than his own dogs. He got afraid
and fled before the old hound made her appearance.
His dogs also were afraid. So the tradition says.
DOGS CHASING FAIRIES.
Two men from Mull were engaged building a march
dyke across the hills in Kintail. To be near their
work, they took up their residence by themselves in
a hut among the hills. One night, before retiring to
rest, they heard a horrible screaming coming in the
direction of the hut. They went out with sticks of fire-
wood in their hands. Though they could see nothing,
they knew some'thing was approaching. The shrieks
came nearer and nearer, and at last a large dark object
passed. A little dog, ' Dun-foot ' by name, which
accompanied the men, gave chase. When it returned
there was no hair on any part of it but on its ears, and
no hair ever grew after but a sort of down.
A number of young men were out at night on the
moorlands of Cornaigbeg farm in Tiree watching the
cattle, to keep them from wandering into the crop
lands. They went to the moss about a mile away for
DOGS CHASING FAIRIES. 145
peats, which at the time (some sixty years ago) were
plentiful in Tiree, but becoming in some way alarmed
they turned back on the road. When returning they
heard strange noises coming towards them, and a dog
that accompanied them began to course round and
round between them and the noise. At last the noise
passed, with sounds like the trampling of a herd of
sheep, and the dog went off in pursuit. On its return
its hair was found scraped off, as if by long sharp nails,
and the whole skin was left bare and white, except
where here and there it was torn and bloody. It died
in a short time after.
A man in Mull was sent on a journey after nightfall,
and about midnight, when crossing the hills from Loch
Tuath (the North Loch) and Loch Cuan {Loch Cumhan,
the narrow loch), saw a light in the face of a hillock.
He was accompanied by his dog, and before long he
heard the noise of dogs fighting, mixed with sounds of
lovely music. He made off as fast as he could, and, on
arriving at the house to which he had been sent, was
offered supper. He was unable to take any. Before
bed-time his dog came with every hair on its body
pulled off It smelt its master's clothes all over, lay
down at his feet, and was dead in a few minutes.
A gentleman of the name of Evan Cameron (it does
not appear where) on his way home across the hills
was overtaken by nightfall and lost his way. He was
accompanied by a greyhound and three terriers. He
146 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
saw a light in a bothy or hut, used in summer, when
the cattle were at pasture among the hills, but deserted
during the greater part of the year. He made towards
it, and on looking in at the door, saw a woman sitting
by the fire, all wet, and combing her hair. She looked
towards him, and said, " Will you not come after your
eye, Evan ? " {Nach d'thig thu 'n dtigh do shidl, Eoghain).
" Not just now " (^Cha d'thig an drdsd), he replied.
After some further conversation he was obliged to allow
his dogs to attack the strange creature. He himself
held on his way, and in a few hours reached home.
The greyhound found its way home, but without any
hair upon its body. None of the terriers was ever
heard of more.-*^
FAIRIES AND HORSES.
At Ruig, at the foot of the Storr Rock, in Skye, at
the time it was occupied by small farmers (sixteen in
number), all the horses on the farm, numbering as
many as a hundred, were seen ridden by the Fairies,
sitting with their faces to the tail, on Hallowmas night.
The shore line of the farm consists of frightful preci-
pices, and the horses, as if very madness (an cuthach
dearg) had taken possession of them, went off at their
utmost speed towards the shore. Every one thought
' This creature, haunting the pastures of the cattle, partakes more
strongly of the character of the Glaistig, afterwards to be described, than of
the Fairy women.
FAIRIES AND HORSES. 147
they would be lost, but no harm arose after all from the
stampede.
Near Killin in Perthshire, a man entered a Fairy
Knowe, and found inside a woman making porridge.
The dish boiled so fiercely that a spark from the
porridge flew and struck him in the eye. He saw the
Fairies ever after with that eye. At the St. Fillan
market {Feill Fhaolain) at Killin, he saw them in great
numbers riding about the market on white horses.
Meeting one, whom he recognized, he remarked, " What
a number of you are here to-day.'' The Fairy asked
which eye he saw ' the folk ' with, and on being told
put it out.
A young wife had not, as was customary at that
time, learned to spin and weave. She tried in every
way to learn, but try as she might she made no pro-
gress, till one noon-day she wished some one would
come to help her. She then saw a woman standing
in the door, who said she would help her on condition
that she would give her her first child when born,
but if she could tell the shi woman's name when
she came to take away the child she would be free
from her promise. The young woman rashly agreed
to this, and in a short time could make do (cloth)
better than any one around her. After some time,
however, she began to be afraid her visitor would
return, and she went about eagerly listening to hear
148 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
the name, when suddenly one day she saw an open-
ing in a grassy hillock beside her, and on looking in
saw the same woman standing inside, and heard
another one calling to her. She went home joyously
repeating the name all the way, and told her hus-
band how she heard it. When the Bean ski came
again, the mother of the child called out to her by
the name she had heard, and invited her to come in,
but she only said, " A blessing on the name, but
banning on the mouth that taught you," and she
never afterwards darkened the door.
On another day the husband was with his wife in
the fields working and looking about, when they saw
a great company of riders on white horses coming
where they were, and as they came near one of the
riders caught hold of her and took her away. Her
husband did not know what to do. He went wan-
dering about looking for her, but never finding her,
till one day, to his great wonderment, he saw a
glimmer of light on the side of the hill. He reached it,
and saw an opening. He put a pin in the side and
went in, and saw a great company feasting and dancing,
with his lost wife in the middle of the dancers. She
saw him also, and began to sing loudly :
" Take no food here lalai o horro horro.
Ask no drink here lalai o horro hee."
No one took any notice of him. He got near her,
and putting his arm around her, whisked her out of
FAIRIES AND HORSES. 149
the circle of dancers. He took her home, but she
became discontented, and was never the same being
as she had been before. At last it happened when
they were again out together that the riders on white
horses came their way. On parting with him this
time she said, "If at any time he wished her to come
back, he was to throw her marriage dress, which had
craobh uaine, i.e. green tracery on the right shoulder,
after her when he saw her passing in the company,
and she would return home." Thinking she did not
belong to this world, he did nothing, and she passed
and never returned to him.
FAIRIES AND THE HANDMILL.
The invention of the handmill or quern, in the
infancy of the arts, must have formed an era in the
history of human progress. Whoever first found out a
handy way of reducing the solid grain into meal
bestowed an inestimable blessing on the human race.
The instrument is still to be occasionally met with in
the Hebrides, in houses not convenient to mill or
market. It is usually worked by two women, like the
mills in use in the East.
" A pair of thick-set hussies
Winding round a quern."'
It is a common practice with women to sing at their
' ' ' Paidhir de na cailean guagach
Cuir mu'n cuairt na brathuinn-oran. ''
ISO TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
work, as indeed they did in the Highlands in olden
times at most of their labours, such as reaping, sowing,
milking.
Old Archibald, for half a century servant to the
ministers of Tiree, would insist to his dying day that,
coming home at night with a cart from the parish mill,
he heard the handmill at work inside the Red Knolls
(na Cnocana ruadhd) near the road. He could put his
foot on the very spot where he heard the noise. To
ask him if he was naturally troubled with singing in
the ears, or show any other symptom of unbelief, was
resented as an affront, and neither minister nor elder,
nor a whole synod, would persuade him there were no
Fairies. He had heard them himself " with his own
ears."
The man who first got the loan of a quern from the
Fairies never sent it home. In revenge, the elves took
away all substance from his crop that year, and he
derived no benefit from grain or fodder. His is the
fate of many inventors. The benefit is not immediate.
It seems the elves had no power but over the year's crop.
FAIRIES AND OATMEAL.
A man in Islay got a loan of oatmeal from the
Fairies, and when returning it, he, out of gratitude, left
at the hole, which led to the Fairy residence, and
where he had been in the habit of getting and leaving
such loans, more meal than he had borrowed. The
FAIRIES AND OATMEAL. 151
Fairies are a just race ; they take no more than their
exact due ; they were offended by more being offered,
and never after gave that man a loan of meal.
A kind-hearted woman, the wife of a well-to-do
farmer in the rugged district of Kingairloch, was one
day visited by a young woman, a stranger to her, who
asked for, and got a loan of meal. In answer to the
housewife's inquiries, the visitor said she came from the
hillock above the house, on which a rowan-tree, or
mountain ash, was growing. She wore an upper dress
like a grey tippet. This event took place shortly
before Beltane, when ploughing and other farm opera-
tions were being proceeded with. In a week after
Grey Tippet came back with the meal, but it was
barley-meal, and told the good-wife to bless this every
time she took any of it. This direction was carefully
attended to, and the meal never got less. One day a
scatter-brain member of the family asked if that cursed
barley-meal was never to be done. The next time the
mistress went to the chest there was no more barley-
meal.
The house of one M'Millan, at the foot of Ben
ladain in Morvern, a high hill already mentioned for
its reputation as a Fairy residence, was visited by a
stranger, a woman, who asked for a loan of meal. She
said she stayed in that sarne neigbourhood, that the men
were away just now in Lismore, and that the meal
would be sent back on their return. This was done in
152 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
due course, as promised, and M'Millan's wife was told
never to allow any one but herself to bend over the
chest, in which the meal was kept, and the meal would
prove inexhaustible. At last, however, when Mrs.
M'Millan was ill, another opened the chest, and the
meal disappeared.
Hector, son of Ferchar, in the Ross of Mull, was an
easy-going, kind-hearted man, a weaver by trade, who
would give away the last of his goods to any one he
saw in distress. So weak was he in this respect, that
his wife did not care to trust him with anything —
he was sure to give it away to the first poor man that
came his way. Having occasion to go to the summer
pastures in the hill, and leave Hector alone in charge
of the house, she measured out enough meal to last
him for the fifteen days she expected to be away, and
gave it to him in a skin bag. When returning, she
met a beggar, who said he had got a handful of meal
from her husband, and Hector himself, when questioned,
said he had given away sixteen such handfuls. Yet
the bag was found to be quite full.
FAIRIES AND IRON.
In Mull, a person, encountered by a Bean shhh, was
told by her that she was kept from doing him harm by
the iron he had about him. The only iron he had was
a ring round the point of his walking stick.
In the North of Ireland, an iron poker, laid across'
FAIRIES AND IRON. 153
the cradle, kept away the Fairies till the child was
baptized.
The writer remembers well that, when a school-bo)^
great confidence was put in a knife, of which he was
the envied possessor, and in a nail, which another boy
had, to protect us from a Fairy islthche), which was
said to have made its appearance at a spot near which
the road to school passed the Hawthorn Bush between
the Black Nose and the Pass of the Dead {An Crbgan
Sgithich eadar an t-Srbn du 's Bealach najn Marbfi).
This was in Appin, Argyllshire.
The efficacy of iron, in warding off Fairy attacks,
has already been illustrated.
NAME OF THE DEITY.
The Fairies were building a bridge across Loch
Rannoch, between Camaghouran and Innis-droighinn,
when a passer-by wished them God-speed. Instantly
the work stopped, and was never resumed. (Cf
page 64.)
FAIRY GIFTS.
A smith, the poorest workman in his trade, from his
inferior skill, only got coarse work to do, and was
known as the " Smith of Ploughshares" {Gobhainn nan
Soc). He was, besides, the ugliest man, and the rudest
speaker. One day he fell asleep on a hillock, and
three Fairy women, coming that way, left him each a
154 TALES OF THE FAIRIES.
parting gift {fagail). After that he became the best
workman, the best looking man, and the best speaker
in the place, and became known as the " Smith of
Tales" {Gobhainn nan sgial).
A man, out hunting, fell asleep in a dangerous place,
near the brink of a precipice. When he awoke a Fairy-
woman was sitting at his head, singing gently.
STRUCK BY THE FAIRY ARROW SPADE.
Donald, who lived in Gortan du in Lorn, was
working in a drain with a pointed spade. One evening,
having left the spade standing in the drain, he was
startled by something striking it with a loud knock.
He found the noise was made by the blow of a smooth,
polished, flint-like stone. He put this in his pocket
and took it home. Some evenings after, " Galium
Glever," already mentioned as frequently carried about
by the Fairies, was shown the stone. He declared that
it had been thrown by himself at the instigation of the
Fairies, who wanted to take Donald himself Donald
of Gortan du was a cooper, and was wanted to make a
barrel for a cow the elves had just killed. (Cf. page 26.)
CHAPTER III.
TUTELARY BEINGS.
I. THE GLAISTIG.
The Glaistig was a tutelary being in the shape of a
thin grey {tana glas) little woman, with long yellow
hair reaching to her heels, dressed in green, haunting
certain sites or farms, and watching in some cases over
the house, in others over the cattle. She is called 'the
Green Glaistig' {a Ghlaistig uaine) from her wan looks
and dress of green, the characteristic Fairy colour. She
is said to have been at first a woman of honourable
position, a former mistress of the house, who had been
put under enchantments and now had a Fairy nature
given her. She disliked dogs, and took fools and
people of weak intellect under her particular charge.
She was solitary in her habits, not more than one,
unless when accompanied by her own young one, being
found in the same haunt. Her strength was very
great, much greater than that of any Fairy, and one
yell of hers was sufficient to waken the echoes of
156 tutelary" beings.
distant hills. Strong men were said to have mastered
her, but ordinarily people were afraid of meeting
her. She might do them a mischief and leave them
a token, by which they would have cause to re-
member the encounter. She made herself generally
useful, but in many cases was only mischievous and
troublesome.
She seems in all cases to have had a special interest
in the cows and the dairy, and to have resented any
want of recognition of her services. A portion of milk
was set apart for her every evening, in a hole for the
purpose in some convenient stone, and unless this was
done, something was found amiss in the dairy next
morning. Others left milk for her only when leaving the
summer pastures for the season.
She was seldom seen, oftenest when anything was to
happen to the house she followed. She might then be
seen, making her way in the evening up the slope to
the castle, herding the cattle on the pastures, sunning
herself on the top of a distant rock, or coming to the
fold at dusk for her allowance of milk. Her cries,
and the noise she made, arranging the furniture, shout-
ing after the cattle, or at the approach of joy or sorrow,
were frequently heard.
In the south Highlands, the Glaistig was represented
as a little wan woman, stout and not tall, but very
strong. In Skye, where most of her .duties were
assigned to a male deity, the Gruagach, she was said
THE GLAISTIG. 157
to be very tall, 'a lath of a body' like a white reflection
or shade.
Her name is derived from glas, grey, wan, or pale-
green, and sttg, a sneaking or crouching object, probably
in allusion to her invisibility, noiseless motions, or
small size. In the Highland Society's Dictionary, she
is called " a she-devil, or hag, in the shape of a goat,"
and the definition is accepted by M'Leod and Dewar.
This, however, is a mistake. The shape of a goat, in
the Highlands as elsewhere, has been assigned to the
devil only, and there was nothing diabolical, or of the
nature of an evil spirit, seeking the perdition of man-
kind, ascribed to the poor Glaistig. She occupied a
middle position between the Fairies and mankind ; she
was not a Fairy woman {Bean shitK) but one of human
race, who had a Fairy nature given to her. The
Fairies themselves are much nearer in character to the
race of man than to that of devils. Of course all unearthly
beings are to be avoided, but of all the beings, with
which fear or fancy has peopled the unseen world, the
Glaistig and her near relation the Brownie are among
the most harmless.
The house or castle-haunting Glaistig was also
known by the names of Maighdean skebmbair, i.e.
chamber-maid, Gruagach, young woman, lit. long-haired
one, and Gruagach sheombair, 'fille de chambre,' and her
attachment was not to the family but to the site or
stance {laracti). It was always the abodes of the
IS8 TUTELARY BEINGS.
affluent in which she resided, and she continued
her occupancy after a change of tenants, and even after
the building was deserted and had become a nesting
place for wild birds. In olden times there was a per-
petuity of tenure enjoyed by large tenants, and it is not
surprising that writers have fallen into the mistake of
supposing the tutelary guardian of the house to be that
of its tenants. The Glaistig had sympathy with the
tenant so far, that she broke out into loud expressions
of joy or sorrow, or made her appearance more
frequently when happiness or misfortune were to come
upon the family ; but her real attachment was to the
building or site. Indeed, none of these beings of
superstition were tutelary to the human race, or had
anything about them of the character of the Genius or
SaifjLwv. When the house was to be levelled, even
though the family remained on the land, and a new
house (on another site) was built, the Glaistig made a
lamentable outcry, left, and was never afterwards seen
or heard. Her usual occupation consisted in "putting
things in order " at night, sweeping the floor, drawing
chairs and tables about, and arranging the furniture.
After the household had retired to rest, she was heard
at work in apartments that were locked, and in which
no human being could be. It was then known there
would shortly be an arrival of strangers. In the morn-
ing the furniture was found in most cases untouched or
disarranged. In other cases the house was found tidied
THE GLAISTIG. 159
up, and work which had been left for the Glaistig, such as
washing, was found finished. She was fond of working
with the spinning wheel, and, according to some, it was
to prevent her coming to the house, and working with
it on Sundays that old women were careful to take off
the band every Saturday night. She had a similar
fondness for working with tradesmen's tools, and
artizans were often much annoyed at hearing her
working at night, and finding in the morning their
tools spoiled or mislaid. When the servants neglected
their work or spoke disrespectfully of herself, or did
anything to her favourites, she played pranks to punish
them. She knocked down the water-stoups, disar-
ranged the bedclothes, put dust in the meat, led the
objects of her resentment a fool's chase about the house,
or in the dark gave them a slap to be remembered on
the side of the head. When happiness or misfortune, a
marriage or a death, was to occur in the household,
she was heard rejoicing or wailing long before the event
occurred.
It was, however, to the being of this class, that
haunted the folds of the cattle, that the name of
Glaistig is most commonly given. Her occupation
consisted in a general superintendence of the sheep,
cows, and horses of the farm. When the family was at
dinner, or the herdsman had fallen asleep and neglected
his charge, she kept the cattle out of mischief; and,,
though not seen, was heard shouting after them, and
i6o TUTELARY BEINGS.
driving them to their proper pastures. In this respect,
she behaved like an old and careful herdsman. If the
cows were not clean milked, she punished the dairy-maid
by some unchancy prank. At night she kept the
calves from the cows (a needful and useful occupation
before the days of enclosures and plentiful farm
accommodation), and its substance in the milk. In
summer she accompanied the cattle to the hill pastures,
and there had her portion of milk duly poured out for
her in the evening in a stone near the fold. Unless
this was done the calves were found next morning with
the cows, the cream not risen from the milk, a cow was
found dead, or some other mischance occurred. She was
not supposed ever to enter a house, but to stay in some
ravine {eas) near a Fairy residence. She disliked dogs
very much, and if a present of shoes or clothes were
made to her, she was offended and left. She is not
generally spoken of as appearing in any shape but her
own, but in some localities and tales, is said to assume
the shape of a horse as 'old grey mare,' and even of a
dog.
The Glaistig resembled the Fairies in being invisible,
and in having a noiseless gliding motion ; in her dislike
of dogs ; in affecting green in her dress ; in being
addicted to meddling at night with the spinning wheel
and tradesmen's tools ; in her outcries being a pre-
monition of coming events ; in being kept away by
steel, and in her ability to give skill in handicrafts to
THE GLAISTIC. i6i
her favourites. The Fairies bestowed this skill on
those who had the Ceaird-Choinuinn, or association
craft, i.e. the assistance of the Folk. The Glaistig gave
the choice of ' ingenuity without advantage ' {ealdhain
gun rath) or ' advantage without ingenuity ' {rath gun
ealdhain). Those who chose the former proved clever
workmen but never prospered ; and those who chose
the latter turned out stupid fellows who made fortunes.
She differed in being more akin to ordinary women
than the true Fairy wife (Bean shitJi) ; she was
stronger, and as it were more substantial ; it was true
woman's work which, as chamber-maid or dairy-maid,
she performed. Though her ' bed ' was near a Fairy
dwelling, and she could command the services of the
Elves, she did not engage in Fairy employments or
recreations. The Fairies punished people of a dis-
contented, grumbling disposition, by taking away the
substance of their goods. The Glaistig was also
offended at littleness and meanness of mind, but mean-
ness of a different kind. Those who looked down on
fools and people of weak intellect, or ill-treated them,
she paid off by putting dust or soot in their meat.
Akin to this was her punishment of neglect in servants.
In some parts of the Highlands the Glaistig is called
Glaisrig. The name of her young one is MMleachan,
a name probably derived from its bleating or whimper-
ing after the old one. It is also called Isein, a chicken,
and Gocan, a little plug.
i62 TUTELARY BEINGS.
THE GLAISTIG AT GLENDUROR.
The being which attached herself to the farm-house
of Achindarroch {Acha-nan-darack, field of oaks) in
Glenduror, Appin, Argyleshire, was variously known as
the Glaistig and as the Gruagach of Glenduror. She
attended to the cattle, and took particular charge of
keeping the calves from the cows at night. She
followed the house (not the family), and was alive not
many years ago. A portion of milk was poured out
for her every evening on a stone called Clach na
Glaistig (the Glaistig stone), and once this was
neglected by a new tenant, the calves were found next
morning with the cows. Her face was described by
those who professed to have seen her, as being like a
grey stone overgrown with lichens. A servant girl,
going on a dark evening to draw water from a stream
flowing past the house, was asked by her fellow-servants
if she was not afraid of the Glaistig. In her reply she
spoke contemptuously of that being, and on her way to
the stream received a slap on the cheek that twisted
her head to one side. The following evening, going on
the same errand, she got a slap on the other cheek that
put her head right.-'
THE GLAISTIG AT SRON-CHARMAIG.
The Glaistig attached to this house on Loch
Faschan-side in Lorn was known as Nic-ille-mhicheil
^ The same incident is related of the Sron-Charmaig Glaistig.
THE GLAISTIG. 163
[i.e. a woman of the surname of Carmichael), and was
said to have been a former mistress of the house. She
lived in a ravine, called Eas-ronaich, near the mansion,
and when any misfortune was about to befall the family
set up a loud wailing. On sunny days she was to be
seen basking on the top of Creag Ghrianach (the Sunny
Rock), also in the neighbourhood. Before the old
house was levelled, and the present mansion was built,
she set up an unusually loud wailing, and then left.
Fully a year before the event, she seemed greatly dis-
turbed ; her step up and down stairs, and the noise
of chairs and tables being moved about was frequently
heard after people had gone to bed. At Glen-Iuchair,
a man, who was in the evening convoyed across the
glen by a grey sheep, was firmly of opinion his strange
convoy could have been no other than Nic-ille-mhicheil.
No real sheep could have been so attentive to him.
This attachment to particular individuals was also
shown in the case of a poor old woman, named Mbr
(i.e. Sarah), resident on the farm. When Mor fell sick,
the Glaistig used to come to the window and wail
loudly.
One evening at the cattle-fold, after the cows had
been milked and before the herd and dairy-maids had
started home with the milk-pails, a woman, dressed in
green, was seen coming and trying the udders of the
cows, as if to see whether they had been properly
milked. The herd had his dog with him, and happened
1 64 TUTELARY BEINGS.
at the time to be sitting with it in his arms. The dog
sprang from him and gave chase, and the woman fled
like a bird. This was at a place called Doire nan Each,
' the Wood of the Horses,' several miles from the
mansion, and the woman was believed to be Nic-ille-
mhlcheil.
AT INVERAWE HOUSE.
This mansion-house has long been haunted by a
Glaistig known as the ' Maiden of Inverawe ' {^Maigh-
dean Inbher-athd), who was to be heard (at least till
very recently) rustling {srannail) through the house.
Stoups full of water, left in the house at night, were found
in the morning upset by her, and chairs, left however
neatly arranged, were turned round. She is said to have
been some former mistress of the house who had proved
unfaithful and had been buried alive.
AT DUNSTAFFNAGE CASTLE.
This castle {Dim-sta' innis), once a seat of the kings
of Scotland, was haunted by a woman known as the
Sianag (or Elle-maid) of Dunstaffnage. She broke
into outcries of joy or sorrow {inulad no aighear),
according as a happy or unfortunate event was to befall
the inmates. A stranger, who accompanied one of the
servants to the castle and remained there that night,
had his bedclothes twice pulled off by her, and heard
THE GLAISTIG. 165
her all night walking through the room and in the
adjoining passages. Her footsteps were heavy like
those of a man.
IN TIREE.
A Gruagach haunted the ' Island House ' ( Tigh an
Eilein, so called from being at first surrounded with
water), the principal residence in the island, from time
immemorial till within the present century. She was
never called Glaistig, but Gruagach and Gruagach
mhara (sea-maid) by the islanders. Tradition repre-
sents her as a little woman with long yellow hair, but a
sight of her was rarely obtained. She staid in the
attics, and the doors of the rooms in which she was
heard working were locked at the time. She was heard
putting the house in order when strangers were to
come, however unexpected otherwise their arrival might
be. She pounded the servants when they neglected
their work.
AT SLEAT, SKYE.
The Glaistig of the old Castle of Sleat {Sleibhte,
mountain pastures), once the residence of the Lords of
the Isles, was often seen at dusk standing near the
Gruagach stone, where her allowance of milk was
placed. Her appearance was that of a young woman
with long hair.
i66 TUTELARY BEINGS.
IN THE ISLAND OF COLL.
The Glaistig that haunted old Breacacha Castle, the
family seat of the MacLeans of Coll, was in size ' like a
lump of a lassie ' {cnapach caileig), and had white hair
like a tuft of flax {gibeag lln), as long as herself She
put the house in order when strangers were to come,
and guests getting up through the night were led
astray by her, so that they could not find their way
back to bed again. Indeed, she is even accused of
maltreating strangers, while she let those she knew
alone.
AT DUNOLLY CASTLE.
The Glaistig of this castle made herself very useful.
The family washing had only to be left for her at night
and it was done before morning. Glimpses of her were
seen in the evening on her way up to the castle.
During the night she tidied up the house and swept the
floors. The fool (amadan) attached to the castle was
taken under her special protection, and he often had his
meat clean when others had it full of ' stour.'
AT MEARNAIG CASTLE.
This ancient ruin is on the summit of a conical rock,
above a hundred feet high, close to the shore, in Glen
Sanda, on the Kingerloch coast. About three or four
hundred feet from it there is a beautiful and curious
echo. A call of eight or nine syllables is distinctly
THE GLAISTIG. 167
repeated from the castle after the speaker has ceased.
The only reminiscence of the castle's former tenants is
the call usually given, when rousing the echo, " Are you
in, maiden ?" {Am bheil thu stigh a mhatghdean ?) The
maiden is the tutelary Glaistig that haunted all such
buildings.
IN STRATHGLASS.
The Gruagach or Glaistig that haunted the house of
Mac 'ic Alasdair (the patronymic of the chiefs of Glen-
garry), in Strathglass, was never seen, but was commonly
heard at night putting dishes in order. She was given,
like many of her sort in the old hospitable Highland
days, to leading strangers astray through the house. A
shepherd from Morvern came some forty years ago to
the neighbourhood, and the Glaistig took a great fancy
to staying with him. He suffered a great deal of
annoyance from her, though no ultimate loss. If he
left his jacket on the paling {staing) to dry, it might be
away the first time he went to look for it, but the next
time he might, and ultimately would, find it all safe.
At times cheese disappeared for a while from the
' amry.' At night the shepherd felt the coverlet being
hauled off, and heard the Glaistig giggling, with a short
sort of laugh, hi, hi, hi.
He might leave their calves all night with the two
cows he owned, the Glaistig kept them from sucking.
Before being reconciled to her he tried to keep her
1 68 TUTELAR Y BEINGS.
away by putting the New Testament above the door
and round the walls, but without effect. A party of
young men came one evening to hear the mysterious
noises. They saw and heard nothing till they were
going away. The pot was then lifted off the fire
without any visible agency and left on the floor ; while
they themselves had their eyes nearly knocked out at
the door with tough clods from the marsh {pluic ruig-
hinn riisg).
AT LIANACHAN.
A strong man of the name of Kennedy or MacCuaric,i
residing at Lianachan in Lochaber, was coming home
in the evening from setting a salmon net in the river
when a Glaistig met him on the bank of the stream.
He locked his arms round her {gklas e lamhun), took
her with him to the house, and would not let her go
till she built for him a large barn of six couples {sia
suidheachun). This she did in one night. As her
parting gift she left a blessing and a curse to the
MacCuarics, that they should grow like rushes but
wither like ferns. This proved to be the case — the
man's family grew up tall, and straight, and handsome,
but when they attained their full strength and growth
they wasted prematurely away.
The following is a close translation of a much fuller
^Both names have the same meaning, being derived from a kind of head-
dress (ceann-eididk, cuaraig) peculiar to the clan.
THE GLAlSriG. 169
and slightly different version of the legend (see volume
of Gaelic poems called An Duanaire, p. 123). The
Gaelic is not given as the volume is easily accessible.
It is a pity that the author of the piece, if known to
the collector, is not given.
" One night the big black lad MacCuaric was going
home from the smithy; the Glaistig met him as he was
crossing Curr at the ford of Croisg :
" Hail to thee, Big Black Lad, said she,
Would you be the better of a rider behind ?
Yes, and a rider before, said he ;
And he gave her a little big lift
From the bare beach,
And tied her before him.
Safely and surely,
On the back of the mettlesome horse.
With the wizard belt of Fillan ;
And he swore and asseverated
Vehemently and stubbornly.
He would not let her whole from his grasp.
Till he showed her before men.
Let me go, said she, and I will give
For loss and damage,
A fold full of speckled cattle,
White-bellied, black, white-headed,
Success on hill and in company
To yourself and your sort after you.
That is mine in spite of you, said he,
And it suffices not to set you free.
Let me go, and I will leave your land,
Where in the knoll I stayed ;
And I will build thee to-night.
On yonder field,
A big, strong, dike house,
I/O TUTELARY BEINGS.
A house fire will not pierce,
Water, nor arrow, nor iron,
And will keep thee dry and comfortable,
Without dread, or fear, and charmed
Against poison, caterans, and fairies.
Fulfil your words, said he,
And from me get your leave.
She gave a shriek with wailing.
That was heard over seven hills !
It seemed as if the Horn of Worth,
Owned by Fionn, had whistled.
Every Fairy dwelling and beetling cliff
Wakened and echoed,
And ' they ' gathered round the meadow,
Waiting her orders.
She set them to work speedily,
Calmly, orderly.
And they brought flags and stones
From the shore of Clianaig waterfall,
Reaching them from hand to hand ;
From the Knoll of Shore Islet
Were cut beams and rafters ;
And supports long.
Straight, and thick, in the Rowan wood ;
While she herself unceasing said
One stone above two stones.
And two stones above one stone.
Fetch stake, clod, thatching pin.
Every timber in the wood
But mulberry ;
Alas for him, who gets not as he sows,
And sows not as he gets !
And at the grey dawning
There was divot on the roof.
And smoke from it !
He kept the coulter in the fire,
To keep him from mischance.
Since he knew the pranks
THE GLAISTIG. 171
And enchantments of the Fairies.
When the house was now finished
And she had made up each loss,
He loosened the maid
And suffered no harm.
Going past the window in front
She stretched him her crooked palm
To bid him farewell, —
But (truly) to take him to the sh'ien.
The skin of her palm stuck to it (the coulter) ;
She sprang then on a grey stone
Of the Field, to pronounce his doom.
She brought the curse of the people on him,
And the curse of the goblins,
And if we may believe as we hear,
She obtained her request.
' Grow like rushes.
Wither like fern,
Turn grey in childhood.
Change in height of your strength ;
I ask not a son may not succeed.
I am the sorrowing Glaistig
That staid in the land of the Meadow,
I built a big house on the Field,
Which caused a sore pain in my side ;
I will put out my heart's blood,
High on the peak of Finisgeig,
Which will be red for evermore.'
And she leapt in a green flame.
Over the shoulder of the peak." ^
IN GLENORCHY.
The Glaistig, living at the waterfall {eas) of Bo-
chaoil in Glenorchy, came behind a man of the name
^ The last two lines suggest this to be a modern composition, and not a
popular tradition. Supernatural beings do not go away in flames in
Highland superstition.
172 TUTELARY BEINGS.
of Campbell, riding home in the evening to the ad-
joining farm-house, and jumping up behind him, urged
the horse to greater speed by crying now and then,
" Hoosh ! for a horse with two " {Huts ! air each le
dithis). Campbell put back his hands and caught her.
He was going to take her home, but she managed
to get away, and left as her parting gift, that no
Campbell should ever be born alive {nach gineadh 's
nach goireadh CairnbeulacK) above Bo-chaoil.
The water before breaking over the fall is curiously
split by an unseen pinnacle of the rock, and the Glaistig
is said to cause the appearance with her foot.
M'MILLAN OF KNAP.
The Cnap (that is, the Lump) is opposite Shuna
Island in Appin, and the name still remains in Tigh
a Chnaip (the house of the Lump), the Gaelic name of
BalachuHsh hotel on the road to Glencoe, well-known
to tourists. It was regarding the ownership of Knap
by the M'Millans that the oral charter ran :
" M'Millan's right to Knap
While wave strikes rock."'
A Glaistig once came behind a kilted chief of this
sept and caught him, so that he could not struggle
or escape. She asked him if he had ever been in
greater straits {Mhic Mhaoil a Chnaip, an robh thu
' " Coir Mhic-Mhaoilein air a Chnap,
Fhads' a bhuaileas tonn air creig."
. THE GLAISTIG. 173
riamh an aire is mb ?). He said he had ; she asked
when ; and he said, " Between plenty and penury "
{Eadar fiill is aimbeairt). On this she let go her
hold. He said, " I give my word I will not be weighed
on the same scales again," ^ and stabbing her with his
dirk killed her.
THE GLAISTIG AT CRAIGNISH.
A weaver, going home in the evening with a web
{corn) of cloth on his shoulder, was met by a Glaistig
at a stream. She caught hold of him and pummelled
him {lad i e) all night in the stream with his own
web of cloth, saying to all his remonstrances, " Weaving
weaver, you are the better of being washed " {Fig-
keadair figke, ' s fhearrd' thu do nigheadK).
ON GARLIOS, MORVERN.
The lonely and rugged mountain tract, known as
the Garlics {Garbh-shlios, the rough country side),
extending along the coast of Morvern, from the Sound
of Mull to Kingairloch, a distance of about seven miles,
was at one time haunted by a Glaistig, whose special
employment was the herding {buachailleachd^ of the
sheep and cattle that roamed over its desert pastures.
Tradition represents her as a small, but very strong
woman, taking refuge at night in a particular yew tree
{craobh iuthair), which used to be pointed out, to
' Bheir mise mo bhriathrun, nach d' theid mis' air na sgalun ciadna rithis.
174 TUTELARY BEINGS.
protect herself from wild animals that prowled over
the ground. In a cave in the same locality lived a
man, known as 'Yellow Dougall of the Cave' {Diighaill
Buidhe na h-Uamh), who supported himself and wife
by taking a sheep or goat, when he required it, from
the neighbouring flocks.^ One day when about to
row himself across to the opposite island of Lismore,
in his coracle {curachari), a woman came and asked for
a passage. She took the bow oar, and before long
cried out, " A hearty pull, Dougall " {Hiig orra, Dhu-
ghaill.) " Another hearty pull then, honest woman "
{Hugan so eiV orra, bhean choir), cried Dougall. Every
now and then she repeated the same cry, and Dougall
answered in the same way. He thought himself a
good rower, and was ashamed to be beat by a woman.
He never rowed so hard in his life. When the boat
touched the Lismore shore, he for the first time turned
round his head, and no woman was anywhere to
be seen. She who was so strong and disappeared so
mysteriously could only be the Glaistig.
Other accounts say that the boatman was Selvach
Mac Selvach {Sealbhach Mac Shealbhaich), a native of
Lismore, and the woman against whom he pulled for
^ It was said of Dougall, that when he wanted a sheep he drove a whole
flock through a particular gap in the rocks, while his wife stood in waiting
to catch the animal fixed upon. Once she allowed this sheep to pass, and
Dougall asked her what she meant. " How," she said, "could I take the
sheep of my own godfather?" (goistidh). Dougall replied, "The man might
be your godfather, but the sheep was not your godfather. "
THE GLAISTIG. 175
the three miles from Kingairloch to Lismore, a Glaistig
that stayed in the ravine of Alltaogain in the latter
place. Her cry was, " Pull away, Selvach " {Hiig orra,
Skealbhaich), and his answer, " Pull away, my lass "
{Hiig orra, gkalad.")
AT ARDNADROCHIT, MULL.
The Glaistig that followed the house of Lamont at
Ardnadrochit (the height of the bridge), in Craignure
parish, Mull, was commonly seen in the shape of a
dog, and was said to carry a pup at the back of her
head. A band came across from Lorn, the opposite
mainland, to 'lift' Lament's cattle. The Glaistig,
whose charge they were, drove them up the hill out of
the way to a place called Meall na Lire. Here, in a
dell called 'the Heroes' Hollow' {Glaic nan GaisgeacK),
the freebooters were like to overtake her. On seeing
this, she struck the cows, and converted them into grey
stones, which are to be seen to this day. On coming
up, the plunderers stood at these stones, 'and one of
them, tapping with his broadsword the stone near him,
said he felt sure this was the bed of the white cow
{Bo bhdn). On his saying this, the tap of his sword
split the stone in two. The Glaistig broke her heart,
and was afterwards taken by Lamont and buried in a
small plot of ground near the Sound of Mull, where
in those days the bodies of unbaptized children were
put.
176 TUTELARY BEINGS.
ON BAUGH, TIREE.
The tenants of this farm once got the benefit of
seven years' superintendence of their cattle from a
Giaistig. There is a place on the farm, still called the
Glaistig's Bed, where she died by falling in the gap of
a dyke. She was seldom seen, but was often heard.
When driving the horses to pasture, she called out,
" Get along, get along, thou son of a mare ! Betake
thee to yonder white bank!" and when the herd-boy
was at his dinner, she was heard shouting to the cattle,
" Horo va ho whish ! Did ever any one hear of cattle
without a herdsman but these?" She prepared food
for herself by dragging a bunch of eels (of which there
is an over-abundance in the small lochs on the farm)
through the fire-place of a kiln used for preparing corn
for the hand-mill. One night, when engaged at this
work along with Goean {i.e. a perky little fellow), her
son as is supposed, some one came behind and gave
her a rap on the head with a stick. She and her son
fled, and as they were going away, Goean was over-
heard saying to his mother, " Your old grey pate has
been rapped, but see that you have the bunch of
eels.''
In appearance, this Giaistig is said to have been a
thin sallow-looking little object, with ringletted yellow
hair that reached down to her heels. She had short
legs, and in person was not unlike a dwarf.
THE GLAISTIG. lyj
AT STRONTIAN.
An incident similar to that of the bunch of eels is
told of a Glaistig that came at nights and worked in
the smithy at Strontian. The smith was very much
annoyed at the noises in the smithy at night, and at
finding in the morning tools mislaid and the smithy in
confusion. He resolved to stay up and find out the
cause. He stood in the dark, behind the door, with the
hammer on his shoulder ready to strike whatever should
enter. The Glaistig came to the door, accompanied by
her bantling, or Jsein {i.e. a young chicken). The chicken
thought he heard a noise^ and said, " Something moving,
little woman." " Hold your tongue, wretch," she said,
" it is only the mice." At this point the smith struck
the old one on the head with his hammer, and caught
hold of the little one. On this, the Isein reproached his
mother by saying, " Your old grey pate has got a
punching ; see now if it be the mice." Before the
smith let his captive go, the Glaistig left a parting gift
— that the son should succeed the father as smith in
the place till the third generation. This proved to be
the case, and the last was smith in Strontian some forty
years ago.
ON HIANISH, TIREE.
About a hundred years ago one of the tenants of
this farm, which adjoins Baugh, wondering what
made his cows leave the fank (or enclosure) every
178 TUTELARY BEINGS.
night, resolved to watch. He built a small turf hut
near the fold to pass the night in, and sat mending his
curain (shoes or mocassins of untanned hides), when a
woman came to the door. Suspicious of her being an
earthly visitant, he stuck his awl in the door-post to
keep her out. She asked him to withdraw the awl and
let her in, but he refused. He asked her questions
which much troubled him at the time. He was afraid
of a conscription, which was then impending, and he
asked if he would have to go to the army. The
Glaistig said he would ; that though he made a hole in
the rock with his awl and hide himself in it, he would
be found out and taken away, but if he succeeded in
mounting a certain black horse before his pursuers
came, he might bid them defiance ; and he was to tell
the wife who owned the white-faced yellow cow to let
the produce of the cows home to their master. The
man was caught when jumping on the back of the
black horse to run away from the conscription, and
after service abroad, came back to tell the tale.
IN ULVA.
The Glaistig of Ardnacallich, the residence of the
Macquarries of Ulva, used to be heard crying " Ho-h6 !
ho-ho ! Macquarries' cattle are in the standing corn
near the cave ! The bald girl has slept ! the bald girl
has slept ! ho-ho, ho-h6." The ' bald girl ' was no
doubt a reference to her own plentiful crop of hair.
THE GLAISTIG. 179
IN lONA.
The common of this Island is called Staonnaig, and
in former times the cattle of the east and west end
people of the place came to it in summer for fourteen
days alternately. In those days a Glaistig stayed in a
hole of the rocks in Staonnaig, and the people, when at
the summer pastures {airidJt) poured milk every night
in a stone for her. She once entered on a very rainy
day a house where there was a woman of the name of
Livingstone alone and at dinner. She dried herself at
the fire, holding her clothes spread out, and turning
round from side to side, Her clothes took fire, and
she left as her parting gift, that no fire can be kindled
at dinner-time by a woman of the name of Livingstone.
IN ROSS, MULL.
A herd in this district, whenever he moved the cattle
at night, heard a voice shouting after him, " Son of big
black John, there is a cow behind you" {Mhic Iain
du Mkoir, tha bo dd dheighimi). He shouted in reply,
"If there is one behind there are a hundred before"
(^Ma tha h-aon am dke'igk, tha ceud romhani).
Neil, who lived in Saor-bheinn, went to fish on the
rocks. Coming home in the dusk of the evening, a
voice (that of the Glaistig) followed him begging for a
fish. " Give me a cuddy fish, Neil " ( Thoir' dhomh
cudainn, a N^il). This occurred every evening, and if
i8o TUTELARY BEINGS.
he gave a fish the Glaistig became more and more
importunate, and one by one, to get rid of her solicita-
tions, the fish were given away, the last at the door.
In this way, Neil often returned empty-handed from
the fishing.
Hector, son of Ferchar, lived at Hoodie-crow Hillock
{Cnoc na Feannaig), and as was common in olden times,
the door of his house was made of bunches of heather,
tied together, and made more wind-tight by straw
stuffed between them. One cold frosty night he heard
a scraping at the door, as if some animal were trying
to pull out the straw. He rose and went out, and
drove away an old white horse he found nibbling at
the straw. In a while he was disturbed again by the
same noise. He went out, and, taking up a big stick,
chased away the old white mare. When he almost
overtook her, the mare became a woman, and, laughing
at Hector, said, " I have played a trick upon you,
Hector, son of Ferchar.''
IN CORRY-NA-HENCHOR.
The Glaistig of Coire-na-sheanchracli, a valley on the
Mull coast, half way up the sound between that island
and the mainland, met a poor fisherman of the neigh-
bourhood every evening, when he came ashore from the
fishing and always got a fish for herself One evening
he caught nothing but lithe, and when the Glaistig
came and looked at them, she said, " They are all lithe
THE CLAISTTG. i8i
to-night, Murdoch." Whatever offence was taken by
her in consequence she never came any more.
MAC-IAN YEAR.
This man {Mac Iain Ghiarr), whose name is pro-
verbial in the West Highlands for that of a master
thief, was one of the Mac lans of Ardnamurchan, a
persecuted race. He had a boat for going on his
thieving expeditions painted black on one side and
white on the other, so that those who saw it passing
would not recognize it on its return. Hence the pro-
verb :
" One side black and one side grey,
Like Mac Ian Year's boat."
Many tales are told of his skill in thieving, and the
accomplishment is said to have been bestowed upon
him by a Glaistig.
He and his brother Ronald (his own name was
Archibald) were out hunting, and having killed a roe,
took it to a bothy and prepared it for supper. He
threw himself on a bed of heather, and Ronald sat by
the fire, roasting pieces of the roe on his dirk. A
woman entered the hut, and made an effort now and
then to snatch from him some of the roasted flesh.
Ronald threatened, unless she kept over her paw (sail),
he would cut it off with his knife. She appealed to
Archibald, " Ho, Archibald, will you not put a stop to
Ronald?" " I will put a stop to him, poor creature," he
i82 TUTELARY BEINGS.
said. He told Ronald to allow the poor woman, that
they had plenty, and perhaps she was hungry. When
leaving, the Glaistig asked him to the door, and it is
supposed then bestowed upon him his wonderful gift of
theft. He built a large byre when he had not a single
'hoof to put in it, and before long it was amply
stocked. He hired the Glaistig to herd for him, and
she was to be heard at night on the tops of the cliffs
crying " Ho ho, ho ho," to keep the cattle from wander-
ing too near the verge. Her wages were to be a pair
of brogues of untanned leather, and when she got these,
like the rest of her kind, she disappeared. She seems,
however, only to have returned to her former haunts,
which extended all over Ardnamurchan, from the Point
to LtDch Sunart. When her former master died, she
gave a shriek that roused the echoes of Ben Resipol
{R^iscapol). The same night she was seen in the
Coolin hills in Skye, and after that neither her shadow
nor her colour (a du no dath) were anywhere seen.
During her period of service with Mac Ian Year,
she made her appearance whenever he raised his
standard, however far away she might be. Ronald's
dog had a great aversion to her, and chased her
whenever she came near. She was then to be heard
calling out, " Ho, Archibald, will you not call off
the dog ? " {Ho, Laspuig, nach caisg thu 'n cii P), — a
common phrase in Ardnamurchan and the small isles
to this day.
THE GLAISTIG. 183
It is related of her, that to escape from her
attentions, Mac Ian Year and his brother resolved
to remove to the Outer Hebrides. They had barely
kindled a fire in their new dwelling, when the Glaistig
called down the chimney they had forgot the old
harrow, but she had brought it, and that she was
only on the top of the Coolin Hills when the first
clink [snag) was given to the flint to kindle the
fire. There was nothing for it but to return to
Ardnamurchan.^
AT ERRAY, MULL.
At Erray {an Eirbhe, the outlying part of a farm^),
near Tobermory, there was a Glaistig that paid atten-
tion principally to the barn. The herd slept in the
byre, and he often heard trampling itartaraich) in
the adjoining barn. Whatever had been left there at
night was found in the morning all in confusion,
topsy-turvy (turrach air tharrach), one leg over the
other {cas niu seadi). All this was the Glaistig's work.
The Glaistig of Fernach on Loch Awe side conveyed
persons of the name of M'Intyre across a dangerous
stream in the neighbourhood. She assumed the shape
of a foal.
^ This story of Glaistig officiousness is an appropriation of a floating tale
that had its origin long previous to Mac Ian Year's time.
^In olden times a wall (of turf) was commonly built to separate the crop
land from the hill ground, and was known as Gh-adh bragh'd, or Upper
Wall. The ground above the Gdradh bragh^d was known as the Eirbhe.
1 84 TUTELARY BEINGS.
II. THE GRUAGACH.
Gruagach, i.e. long-haired one, from gruag, a wig, is
a common Gaelic name for a maiden, a young woman.
In old tales and poems, particularly those relating to
the times of Murchard Mac Brian, who was king of
Ireland circ. A.D. i lOO, the term means a chief or some
person of consequence, probably a young chief Thus,
in a conversation between that king and a young
woman, whose nine silk-clad brothers he had killed in
battle, she says :
" I am daughter of the heir of Dublin,
I would not hide it, lord of swords.
And to the Gruagach of the Isle of Birds,
I, in truth, bore my children."^
The name evidently refers to the length of the hair,
which it seems to have been a custom in ancient times
for men of rank and freemen to allow to grow long.
In Argyllshire, and commonly in Gaelic, the name
Gruagach, applied to the tutelary being haunting farms
and castles, means the same as Glaisiig, and the idea
attached to it is that of a long-haired female, well-
dressed like a gentlewoman, looking after the servants,
and particularly after the cattle. In parts of Skye,
however, the fold-frequenting Gruagach is a tall young
man, with long yellow hair, in the attire of a gentleman
' " Inghean oighre Bhaile-cliath
Cha cheilinn a thriath nan lann,
'S do Ghruagach Eilein nan eun,
'S ann a rug mi fein mo chlann."
THE GRUAGACH. 185
of a bygone period, having a little switch [slatag) in his
hand, and with a white breast, as if he wore a frilled
shirt. One of the writer's authorities described him as
in appearance like a young man fashionably dressed in
a long coat and knee breeches, with a white breast like
that of a frilled shirt, and having a cane in his hand.
He had even heard that the Gruagach wore a beaver
hat — a head-dress which in the Highlands was at one
time believed to indicate a gentleman.
This Gruagach was attentive to the herds and kept
them from the rocks. He frequented certain places in
the fields where the cattle were. A Gruagach was to
be found in every gentleman's fold {buaile), and, like the
Glaistig, milk had to be set apart for him every evening
in a hollow in some particular stone, called the Grua-
gach stone {Clach na GruagaicK), kept in the byres.
Unless this was done no milk was got at next milking,
or the cream would not rise to the surface of the milk.
Some say milk was placed in the Gruagach stone only
when going to and returning from the summer pastures
and when passing with milk.
The Gruagach amused himself by loosing the cattle
in the byre at night, and making people get out of bed
several times to tie them up. The cattle loosened did
not fright or gore one another, as they did when they
broke loose themselves or were untied by another
person. On entering the byre, the Gruagach was heard
laughing and tittering in corners. Beyond this diver-
i86 TUTELARY BEINGS.
sion he seems to have been ordinarily harmless. He
sometimes walked alongside of people, but was never
known to speak.
A woman was driving calves into the byre at Tota
Roam in Scorrybreck. The Gruagach amused himself
inside by keeping them out. The woman, in a great rage,
hastily cursed him. He gave her a slap on the cheek
and killed her. All that night, however, he kept the
fire alive for the woman that sat up watching the body.
Dr. Johnson mentions a ' Greogaca ' in Troda, an
islet off the east coast of Skye. This Gruagach seems
long since to have disappeared, but old people say the
place is a very likely one for a being of the class to be
in. At Holm, East-side, and Scorrybreck, near Portree,
the stones, where the libations were poured out, may
still be seen.
In Braes, the Gruagach that followed the herds was
a young woman with long hair ; she was also known
as the Glaistig, and the rock, in which her portion of
milk was poured, is in Macqueen's Big Rock {Creagan
na Glaistig an creag mhor Mhic Cuinii).
III. BROWNIE.
The term Brunaidh, signifying a supernatural being,
haunting the abodes of the affluent and doing work for
the servants, seems to have made its way into the
Highlands only in recent times and along with south
country ideas. It is generally applied only to a big.
BROWNIE. 187
corpulent, clumsy man, ' a fine fat fodgel wight,' and
in many districts has no other reference. Its derivation
is Teutonic and not Celtic, and Brownies are mostly
heard of in places to which, as in the south of Argyll-
shire, southern ideas have penetrated, or where, as in
the Orkneys and Shetland, a Teutonic race is settled.
In the islet of Cara, on the west of Cantyre, the old
house, once belonging to the Macdonalds, was haunted
by a Brownie that drank milk, made a terrific outcry
when hurt, and disliked the Campbell race. In the old
castle of Largie, on the opposite coast of Cantyre, which
belonged to the same Macdonalds, there was also a
Brownie, supposed to be the same as the Cara one.
Since the modern house was built Brownie has not been
seen or heard. In Cara he is still occasionally heard.
It is not known exactly what he is like, no one having
ever seen more than a glimpse of him. Before the
arrival of strangers he put the house in order. He
disliked anything dirty being left in the house for the
night. Dirty bed-clothes were put out by him before
morning. Dogs had to be put outside at night, as he
often killed those left in the house. He was much
addicted to giving slaps in the dark to those who soiled
the house ; and there are some still alive who can
testify to receiving a slap that left their faces black.
He tumbled on the floor water-stoups left full over-night.
A man was lifted out of bed by him, and found him-
self 'bare naked,' on awakening, at the fire. A woman.
1 88 TUTELARY BEINGS.
going late in the evening for her cows, found Brownie
had been before her, and tied them securely in the barn.
In one of the castles in the centre of Argyllshire,
Brownie came to the bedside of a servant woman who
had retired for the night, arranged the clothes, and, pulling
them above her, said : " Take your sleep, poor creature"
(dean cadal, a chreutair). He then went away.
In character Brownie was harmless, but he made
mischief unless every place was left open at night. He
was fed with warm milk by the dairy-maid.
A native of the Shetland Isles writes me that
Brownie was well known in that locality. He worked
about the barn, and at night ground with the handmill
for those to whom he was attached. He could grind a
bag or two of grain in a night. He was once rewarded
for his labours by a cloak and hood left for him at the
mill. The articles were away in the morning, and
Brownie never came back. Hence the bye-word, such
a man is like Brownie,
" When he got his cloak and hood.
He did no more good."
The same story is told of the ' Cauld Lad of Hilton,'
in the valley of the Wear in England (Keightley's
Fairy Myth, p. 296), of Brownies in the Scottish
Lowlands (p. 358), and of one in Strathspey (p. 395),
who said, when he went away —
" Brownie has got a coat and cap.
Brownie will do no more work.''
BROWNIE. 189
It also made its way to Tiree, and was there told as
follows :
GUNNA.
In olden times the tillage in Tiree was in common,
the crop was raised here and there throughout the
farm, and the herding was in consequence very difficult
to do. In Baugh, or some farm in the west of the
island (tradition is not uniform as to the locality),
the cows were left in the pastures at night, and were
kept from the crops by some invisible herdsman. No
one ever saw him, or knew whence he came, nor,
when he went away, whither he went. A taibhseir or
seer {i.e. one who had the second-sight or sight of seeing
ghosts) remained up to see how the cattle were kept.
He saw a man without clothes after them, and taking
pity upon him made him a pair of trews {triubhas^)
and a pair of shoes. When the ghostly herdsman put
the trews on, he said (and his name then, for the first
time, became known) :
" Trews upon Gunna,
Because Gunna does the herding,
But may Gunna never enjoy his trews,
If he tends cattle any more." ^
^ The trews went into the shoe, close-fitted to the legs, and was fastened
with a buckle at the waist.
^ " Triuthas air Gunna
'S Gunna ris a bhuachailleachd,
'S na na mheal Gunna 'n triuthar
Ma ni e tuille cuallaicb."
190 ■ TUTELARY BEINGS.
When he said this he went away and was never more
heard of.
Beings of this class seem to have had a great
objection to presents of clothes. A pair of shoes made
the Glaistig at Unimore leave ; a cap, coat, and breeches
the Phynnodderee in the Isle of Man (Keightley, Fairy
Myth, p. 203) ; in the Black Forest of Germany, a new
coat drove away a nix, one of the little water-people,
with green teeth, that came and worked with the people
all day {ibid., p. 261); and Brownie, as already men-
tioned, in several places.
THE OLD MAN OF THE BARN.
In the Highlands of Perthshire, previous to the '45,
each farm or village had its own bodachan sabhaill, ' the
little old man of the barn,' who helped to thresh the
corn, made up the straw into bundles, and saw that
everything was kept in order. These Brownies had the
appearance of old men and were very wise. They
worked always at night, and were never mischievous,
but highly useful.
The Glaisein (lit. grey-headed man) of the Isle of
Man bears a strong resemblance to them. He was
very strong, frequented farms, threshed corn, and went
to the sheep-folds (Campbell's West Highland Tales,
Introd. liii.).
TUTELARY BEINGS. 191
These house-spirits have many relations, the Nis of
Scandinavia, Kobold of Germany, Niagruisar of the
Faroe Islands, and it is said the English Hobgoblin.
The Hinzelman that haunted Hudemuhlen Castle in
Liineberg had ' curled yellow hair,' also a characteristic
of the Glaistig ; and the difference between one house-
hold tutelary being and another is only such as might
be expected from differences of country and society.
The oldest member of the family is the Lar
Familiaris of the Romans. There is a noticeable re-
semblance between lar, the Roman household deity, and
larach (from lar, the ground), the Gaelic for the stance
or site of a building, to which, and not to the tenants,
the Celtic household apparition attached itself. The
lares of the Romans were the departed spirits of
ancestors, which were believed to watch over their
dependents. The Glaistig was held to have been a
woman of honourable position, a former mistress of the
house, the interests of the tenants of which she now
attended to. Small waxen images of the lares, clothed
with the skin of a dog, were placed in the hall. The
Glaistig had the Fairy aversion to dogs (an aversion
which was reciprocal), but many of the actions ascribed
to her savour strongly of her being in some way
identical with the herdsman's dogs. This would very
well explain the pouring of milk for her in the evening
in the hollow of a stone. The Glaistig of Ardnadrochit
had the shape of a dog (see p. 175).
192 TUTELARY BEINGS.
A satisfactory explanation of the origin of the super-
stition does not readily suggest itself. In days when
men did not know what to believe in regarding the
spirit world, and were ready to believe anything, a fancy
may have arisen, that it secures the welfare of a house,
and adds to its dignity, to have a supernatural being
attached to it and looking after its interests. It had its
origin after the tribes, among whom it is to be found,
ceased to be roving and unsettled barbarians. In a
large establishment a being of the kind was very useful.
The master would not discredit its existence, as it
helped to frighten idle and stupid servants into attend-
ing to their work and into clean and tidy habits.
Shrewd servants would say as little against it when it
served so well to screen their own knavery or faults,
and to impose on a credulous and facile, or careless
master. Unless it was sometimes seen or heard, or
some work was mysteriously done, the delusion, either of
master or servant, could not be long continued ; and,
when men have little else to do, there are many who
take a pleasure in imposing on their more simple-
minded fellows, and are quite ready, as much from sport
as interest, to carry on a delusion of the kind. Besides,
when the mind is nervously anxious, engrossed with the
fear of a coming misfortune or the hope of a coming
joy, it is apt to listen to the whispers of fancy and the
confidently-told tales of others. When it broods alone,
during the sleepless night, over the future it is not
TUTELARY BEINGS. 193
surprising if the imagination converts the weird sounds
of night — the melancholy moaning of the wind, its
fitful gusts in the woods and round the house, the roar
of the waterfall, the sound of the surf-beaten shore, and
many noises, of which the origin is at the time unknown
and unsought — into the omens of that which makes
itself sleepless, or hears in them the song of the house-
spirit, prescient of the coming event. It must also
be remembered that there are people who will see
and hear anything if their story is believingly listened
to, and they are themselves at the time objects of
interest.
Pennant {Tour, p. 330) says Brownie was stout and
blooming, had fine long flowing hair, and went about
with a switch in his hand. He cleaned the house,
helped to churn, threshed the corn, and belaboured
those who pretended to make a jest of him. He says
(P- 331) the Gruagach was in form like the Brownie,
and was worshipped by libations of milk ; and " milk-
maids still retain the custom of pouring some on
certain stones, that bear his name." He is thought, it
is added, to be an emblem of Apollo and identical
with yj)V(TOKop.o<i.
Mr. Campbell ( Tales of the West Highlands, i . xciii.)
supposes the Gruagach of superstition to be a Druid
fallen from his high estate, and living on milk left for
him by those whose priest he had once been. In
another place (ii. lOi) he supposes him to be a half-
194 TUTELARY BEINGS.
tamed savage, hanging about the house, with his long
hair and skin clothing.
These explanations are not satisfactory. The char-
acter, dress, and actions ascribed to the Gruagach and
his congeners are incongruous to the idea of Druid,
heathen deity, or savage w^ild or reclaimed.
CHAPTER IV.
THE URISK, THE BLUE MEN, AND THE MERMAID.
THE URISK.
The Urisk was a large lubberly supernatural, of solitary
habits and harmless character, that haunted lonely and
mountainous places. Some identify him with Brownie,
but he differs from the fraternity of tutelary beings in
having his dwelling, not in the houses or haunts of men,
but in solitudes and remote localities. There were male
and female Urisks, and the race was said to be the
offspring of unions between mortals and fairies, that is,
of the leannan slth.
The Urisk was usually seen in the evening, big and
grey {inbr glas), sitting on the top of a rock and peering
at the intruders on its solitude. The wayfarer whose
path led along the mountain side, whose shattered
rocks are loosely sprinkled, or along some desert moor,
and who hurried for the fast approaching nightfall, saw
the Urisk sitting motionless on the top of a rock and
195
196 THE URISK, BLUE MEN, AND MERMAID.
gazing at him, or slowly moving out of his way. It
spoke to some people, and is even said to have thrashed
them, but usually it did not meddle with the passer-by.
On the contrary, it at times gave a safe convoy to those
who were belated.
In the Highlands of Breadalbane the Urisk was
said, in summer time, to stay in remote corries and
on the highest part of certain hills. In winter time
it came down to the strath, and entered certain
houses at night to warm itself It was then it did
work for the farmer, grinding, thrashing, etc. Its
presence was a sign of prosperity; it was said to
leave comfort behind it. Like Brownie, it liked
milk and good food, and a present of clothes drove
it away.
An Urisk, haunting Beinn Doohrain (a hill beloved of
the Celtic muse) on the confines of Argyllshire and
Perthshire, stayed in summer time near the top of the
hill, and in winter came down to the straths. A water-
fall near the village of Clifton at Tyndrum, where it
stayed on these occasions, is still called Eas na h-uruisg,
the Urisk's cascade. It was encountered by St. Fillan,
who had his abode in a neighbouring strath, and
banished to Rome.
The Urisk of Ben Loy {Beinn Laoigh, the Calf's hill),
also on the confines of these counties, came down in
winter from his lofty haunts to the farm of Sococh, in
Glen Orchy, which lies at the base of the mountain. It
THE URISK. 197
entered the house at night by the chimney, and it is
related that on one occasion the bar, from which the
chimney chain was suspended, and on which the Urisk
laid its weight in descending, being taken away, and not
meeting its foot as usual, the poor supernatural got a
bad fall. It was fond of staying in a cleft at Moraig
water-fall, and its labours, in keeping the waters from
falling too fast over the rock, might be seen by
any one. A stone, on which it sat with its feet
dangling over the fall, is called 'the Urisk stone' {Clach
na k-uruisg). It sometimes watched the herds of
Sococh farm.
A man passing through Strath Duuisg, near Loch
Sloy, at the head of Loch Lomond, on a keen frosty
night, heard an Urisk on one side of the glen calling
out, " Frost, frost, frost " {reoth, reoth, reoth). This was
answered by another Urisk calling from the other side of
the glen, "Kick-frost, kick-frost, kick-frost" {ceige-reoth,
etc.). The man, on hearing this, said, " Whether I wait
or not for frost, I will never while I live wait for kick-
frost " ; and he ran at his utmost speed till he was out
of the glen.
The Urisk of the ' Yellow Water-fall ' in Glen Maili,
in the south of Inverness-shire, used to come late every
evening to a woman of the name of Mary, and sat
watching her plying her distaff without saying a word.
A man, who wished to get a sight of the Urisk, put on
Mary's clothes, and sat in her place, twirling the distaff.
198 THE URISK, BLUE MEN, AND MERMAID.
as best he could. The Urisk came to the door but
would not enter. It said :
" I see your eye, I see your nose,
I see your great broad beard,
And though you will work the distaff,
I know you are a man.''
Graham (^Highlands of Perthshire, p. 19, quoted by
Sir Walter Scott in his Notes to The Lady of the Lake)
says the Urisk "could be gained over by kind attentions
to perform the drudgery of the farm, and it was believed
that many families in the Highlands had one of the
order attached to it." He adds that the famous Coire
nan uruisgean derives its name from the solemn stated
meetings of all the Urisks in Scotland being held there.
The Urisk, like the Brownie of England, had great
simplicity of character, and many tricks were played
upon it in consequence. A farmer in Strathglass got it
to undergo a painful operation that it might become fat
and sleek like the farmer's own geldings. The weather
at the time being frosty, it made a considerable outcry
for some time after.
From its haunting lonely places, other appearances
must often have been confounded with it. In Strath-
fillan (commonly called simply the Straths, Strathaibh),
in the Highlands of Perthshire, not many years ago a
number of boys saw what was popularly said to be
an Urisk. In the hill, when the sun was setting, some-
thing like a human being was seen sitting on the top
THE URISK. 199
of a large boulder-stone, and growing bigger and bigger
till they fled. There is no difficulty in connecting the
appearance with the circumstance that some sheep
disappeared that year unaccountably from the hill, and
a quantity of grain from the barn of the farm.
In the Hebrides there is very little mention of the Urisk
at all. In Tiree the only trace of it is in the name of
a hollow, Slochd an Aoirisg, through which the public
road passes near the south shore. The belief that it
assisted the farmer was not common anywhere, and all
over the Highlands the word ordinarily conveys no
other idea than that which has been well-defined as " a
being supposed to haunt lonely and sequestered places,
as mountain rivers and waterfalls."
THE BLUE MEN {Na Fir Ghorni).
The fallen angels were driven out of Paradise in
three divisions, one became the Fairies on the land, one
the Blue Men in the sea, and one the Nimble Men
(Fir Cklis), i.e. the Northern Streamers, or Merry Dancers,
in the sky.
This explanation belongs to the North Hebrides,
and was heard by the writer in Skye. In Argyllshire
the Blue Men are unknown, and there is no mention of
the Merry Dancers being congeners of the Fairies,
The person from whom the information was got was
very positive he had himself seen one of the Blue Men.
A blue-coloured man, with a long grey face [aodunn
20O THE URISK, BLUE MEN, AND MERMAID.
fada glas), and floating from the waist out of the water,
followed the boat in which he was for a long time, and
was occasionally so near that the observer might have
put his hand upon him.
The channel between Lewis and the Shant Isles
{Na h-Eileinean slant, the charmed islands) is called
' the Stream of the Blue Men ' {Sruth nam Fear Gorm).
A ship, passing through it, came upon a blue-coloured
man sleeping on the waters. He was taken on board,
and being thought of mortal race, strong twine was
coiled round and round him from his feet to his
shoulders, till it seemed impossible for him to struggle,
or move foot or arm. The ship had not gone far when
two men were observed coming after it on the waters.
One of them was heard to say, " Duncan will be one
man," to which the other replied, " Farquhar will be
two." On hearing this, the man, who had been so
securely tied, sprang to his feet, broke his bonds like
spider threads, jumped overboard, and made off with
the two friends, who had been coming to his rescue.
The Streamers. When the Streamers {Na Fir Chlis,
lit. the active or quickly moving men) have ' a battle
royal,' as they often have, the blood of their wounded
falling to the earth, and becoming congealed, forms
the coloured stones called ' blood stones,' known in
the Hebrides also by the name o'i full siochaire, Elf's
blood.
THE MERMAID. 201
THE MERMAID.
The Mermaid {Mnir-bigh, maighdean mhard) of the
Scottish Highlands was the same as in the rest of the
kingdom, a sea-creature, half fish half woman, with
long dishevelled hair, which she sits on the rocks by the
shore to comb at night. She has been known to put
off the fishy covering of her lower limbs. Any one
who finds it can by hiding it detain her from ever
returning to the sea again. There is a common story
in the Highlands, as also in Ireland, that a person so
detained her for years, married her, and had a family
by her. One of the family fell in with the covering,
and telling his mother of the pretty thing he had
found, she recovered possession of it and escaped to
the sea. She pursues ships and is dangerous. Sailors
throw empty barrels overboard, and while she spends
her time examining these they make their escape.
A man in Skye {Mac-Mhannain) caught a Mermaid
and kept her for a year. She gave him much curious
information. When parting he asked her what virtue
or evil there was in egg-water (i.e. water in which eggs
had been boiled). She said, " If I tell you that, you
will have a tale to tell," and disappeared.
A native of Eilein Anabuich (the Unripe Island), a
village in North Harris, caught a Mermaid on a rock,
and to procure her release, she granted him his three
wishes. He became a skilful herb-doctor, who could
202 THE URISK, BLUE MEN, AND MERMAID.
cure the king's evil and other diseases ordinarily
incurable, a prophet, who could foretell, particularly to
women, whatever was to befall them, and he obtained
a remarkably fine voice. This latter gift he had only
in his own estimation ; when he sang, others did not
think his voice fine or even tolerable.
CHAPTER V.
THE WATER-HORSE {Each Uisge).
The belief in the existence of the Water-horse is now
in the Highlands generally a thing of the past, but in
olden times almost every lonely freshwater lake was
tenanted by one, sometimes by several, of these animals.
In shape and colour it resembled an ordinary horse,
and was often mistaken for one. It was seen passing
from one lake to another, mixing with the farmers'
horses in the adjoining pastures, and waylaid belated
travellers who passed near its haunts. It was highly
dangerous to touch or mount it. Those whom it
decoyed into doing so were taken away to the loch in
which it had its haunt, and there devoured. It was
said to make its approaches also in other guises — as a
young man, a boy, a ring, and even a tuft of wool
(ribeag cloimhe) ; and any woman upon whom it set its
mark was certain at last to become its victim. The
cow-shackle round its neck, or a cap on its head,
completely subdued it, and as long as either of these
203
204 THE WATER-HORSE.
was kept on it, it could be as safely employed in farm
labour as any other horse.
In Skye it was said to have a sharp bill {gob biorach),
or, as others describe it, a narrow brown slippery snout.
Accounts are uniform that it had a long flowing tail
and mane. In colour it was sometimes grey, sometimes
black, and sometimes black with a white spot on its
forehead. This variation arose, some say, from the
water horse being of any colour like other horses, and
others say from its having the power of changing its
colour as well as its shape. When it came in the shape
of a man, it was detected by its horse-hoofs and by the
green water weeds or sand in its hair. It was then
very amorous, but the end of those who were unfor-
tunate enough to encounter it was to be taken to the
loch and devoured. However much benefit the farmer
might at first derive from securing one with the cap or cow-
shackle he was ultimately involved by it in ruinous loss.
The following tales will illustrate the character of
the superstition better than a lengthened dissertation :
FARMERS AND WATER-HORSES.
Stories to the following effect are common in Mull
and the neighbourhood :
A strange horse, which cannot be driven away, is
seen all winter among the rest of the farm horse's. In
olden times horses were little housed during winter ;
the stable door was left open, and the horses, after
FARMERS AND WATER-HORSES. 205
eating the little straw allowed them, went out to pick
up what they could. When spring work comes on the
strange horse is caught like the rest and made to work.
Perhaps for greater security the cow-shackle is put
round its neck. It proves as docile and easily managed
as any horse could be. It is the best horse the farmer
has, and is fat and sleek when the rest are lean and
ragged. It works thus all spring, and in summer is
employed to take home peats from the moor. It is
placed foremost in a string of three or seven horses,
which have creels on their backs, in ancient fashion,
and are tied each to the tail of the horse before it.
The farmer rides the foremost of the team. On the
way it becomes restive and unmanageable, and sets off
at full speed, followed by the rest, towards the loch.
Observing that the shackle has slipped off, the man, in
passing through a narrow gateway, plants a foot against
each pillar and throws himself off its back, or he
tumbles on the sands of the shore, and jumping up,
cuts the halter of the hindmost horse. Those that
remain tied are dragged into the loch, and next day
their entrails or livers come ashore.
The most celebrated tale of this class was that of the
son of the tenant of Aros, in Mull.
MAC-FIR AROIS.
The heir of Aros, a young man of great personal
activity, and, it is said, of dissolute manners, having an
2o6 THE WATER-HORSE.
Opinion of himself that there was no horse he could not
ride, was taken by a Water-horse into Loch Frisa, a
small lake about a mile in length in the north-west
of Mull and devoured. This occurred between his
espousal and marriage, and the Lament composed by
his intended bride is still and deservedly a popular
song in Mull. There seems to be this much truth in
the story, that the young man was dragged into Loch
Frisa by a mare which he was attempting to subdue
and drowned. It would appear from the song that his
body was recovered. The popular details of the in-
cident vary considerably, and are of interest as illustra-
tive of the growth of tales of superstition.
One account has it that a remarkably handsome grey
mare came among horses belonging to the tenant of
Aros pasturing on the rushes at the end of Loch Frisa.
One day his son haltered and mounted it. The grey
stood quite quietly till it got the young man on its
back. It then rushed into the loch.
Another account says the young man found a mare
in the hills, which he took to be one of those belonging
to his father. He caught it with the intention of riding
home, but the mare took out to Loch Frisa, and he was
there devoured by Water-horses.
A third account says the Water-horse was kept all
winter, with the cow shackle about its neck, and
remained so quiet and steady, that at last the shackle
was neglected. The son of the tenant rode it one day
MAC-FIR AROJS. 207
to the peat-moss, three other horses following behind in
usual form, when it suddenly rushed away to the lake,
and nothing was ever seen of the youth or the horses
but the livers.
A fourth account says, in spring a band of men
went to the hill to catch a young horse wanted for
harrowing or to send to market. They were unable to
catch it, and next day Aros's son himself went with
them. He caught what he supposed to be the horse
wanted and jumped on its back. The horse rushed at
full speed towards the loch, and the young man found
he could not throw himself off The horse's liver came
ashore next day, the animal, it is supposed, having
been killed by the other Water-horses tenanting the
lake, when they felt the smell of a man off it.
There is still another account, that Mac-fir Arois was
twice taken away by the Water-horse. The first time,
he managed to put a foot on each side of a gate, in
passing through, and allowed the horse to pass on.
The second time, a cap which hitherto had kept the
horse, was forgotten. In the terrible career of the
steed to the loch, the young man clasped his arms
round its neck, and could not unclasp them. His lungs
came ashore next day.
THE TALKING HORSE AT CRU-LOCH.
This is a lonely little lake above Ardachyle {Aird-a-
chaoil, the height of the sound) in the north-east of
2oS THE WATER-HORSE.
Mull. A person passing it late at night, on his way
home, saw a horse with a saddle on, quietly feeding at
the loch side. He went towards it with the intention
of riding it home, but in time he observed green-water
herbs [liaranaicK) about its feet and refrained from
touching it. He walked on and before long was over-
taken by a stranger, who said that unless he (the
Water-horse, who was also the speaker) had been
friendly and a well-wisher, he would have taken him to
the loch. Among other supernatural information it told
the man the day of his death.
ISLAND OF COLL.
At noontide, while the cattle were standing in the
loch, the herdsman near Loch Annla was visited by a
person in whose head he observed ratkum, that is,
water weeds. When going away the stranger jumped
into the loch and disappeared without doing any harn;.
People used to hear strange noises about that loch, no
doubt caused by the Water-horse, which was the herds-
man's visitor.
THE NINE CHILDREN AT SUNART.
A number of children went on a Sunday to amuse
themselves in the neighbourhood of the ' Loch of
Disaster ' {Loch na Dunach) in this district. They fell
in with a horse, caught it, and in their thoughtless
sport mounted it. Its back got longer till they were
THE NINE CHILDREN AT SUN ART. icx^
all mounted, except one, who had a Bible in his
pocket. He touched the horse with his finger, and had
to cut it off to save himself. The horse rushed into
the lake, and the children, nine in number, were never
more seen. The liver of one of them came ashore
next day.
This tale is widely spread, and is obviously a pious
fraud to keep children from wandering on Sundays to
play in lonely places, and from meddling with any
horse they may find.
KILLING THE RAASAY WATER-HORSE.
' The Woman's Loch ' {Loch na Mnd) near Dim
Can, the highest hill in this island, derives its name
from having been the scene of the abduction of a
woman by the Water-horse that haunted it. The big
Smith {An Gobha Mbr), who lived in the neighbourhood,
resolved to kill the horse, and by his success he earned
himself the title of ' Alastair na B^isde ' (Alexander of
the monster). He built a hut close by, with an open-
ing like the syver of a drain, leading towards the loch.
When he got the wind favourable, he killed and roasted
a wether-sheep in the hut. The wind blew the savoury
smell towards the loch, and the Water-horse, attracted
by it, made its way into the hut by the entrance left for
it. The smith had his irons ready in the fire, and
rushing with them at the Water-horse killed it. On
examination the monster proved to be merely grey
2IO THE WATER-HORSE.
turves {Jiluic ghlas), or, as others say, a soft mass {sgling)
like jelly-fish {Muir-tiachd).
THE WATER-HORSE AT LOCH CUAICH.
Some thirty years ago, a small islet in this lake, of
about an half an acre in extent, was tenanted by a
strange specimen of the Highland freebooter, named
Macphie. He was a deserter from the army, who at
first took refuge in a cave in the neighbourhood. He
took away by force a girl of twelve years of age, and,
coming next day to her parents, said if it would give
any satisfaction he would marry her, but refusing to
part with her. A sort of ceremony of marriage was
gone through, but Macphie seems for several years to
have looked upon the girl merely as his daughter.
Her first child was born when she was eighteen years
of age, and she had several more of a family. After
his marriage Macphie removed to the islet mentioned,
and remained there undisturbed for many years. He
supported himself by fishing, hunting, and taking now
and then a sheep or goat from the lands surrounding
the loch. Such was his terror of being surprised by
soldiers that he always carried arms about him, and
slept with a bayonet and loaded gun beside his bed.
The country people were afraid of him and he was
commonly reported to be not ' canny.' He was at
last evicted by a south country farmer, when he
removed with his family to Fort William.
THE WATER-HORSE AT LOCH CUAICH 211
In his time a Water-horse was quite commonly seen
in Loch Cuaich, floating on its side, or as it is called,
' making a film ' {deanadh sgleo) and ' making a
salmon of itself ' [deanadh bradain dhetk fhein), disport-
ing itself and then disappearing. One stormy night
Macphie, by his own account, was roused by a loud
rattling noise at the door, as if some one were trying to
enter. It stood in the door and Macphie knew it
to be the Water-horse in the shape of a man. He
fired twice at it, but it did not move. He called to his
wife to bring a silver coin, and when he put this in the
gun and fired, the figure went away and was heard
plunging into the loch. The people round the loch
heard three shots from the islet that night, for whatever
cause they may have been fired.
THE WATER-HORSE AT TIREE.
A man working in the fields in Caolas, in the east
end of the island, saw a Water-horse coming from Loch
an Air, a small marshy lake, full of reeds. He ran off
in terror, and left his coat behind. The Water-horse
tore the coat into shreds and then made , after the man.
The dogs came out when it came near the house and
drove it away.
A son of one of the chamberlains of the island,
last century, found a horse on the moors, and being
struck with its excellence mounted it. The horse tore
away at full gallop and could not be stopped. It
212 THE WATER-HORSE.
galloped all round the country, till at last one side of
the reins broke, and the horse rushed out on Loch
Basibol, carrying its ill-fated rider with it.
WATER-HORSE AND WOMEN.
A young woman herding cattle drove her charge
to a sequestered part of the hill, and while there a
young man came her way, and reclining his head
on her lap fell asleep. On his stretching himself
she observed that he had horse-hoofs, and lulling
him gently managed to get his head rested on the
ground. She then cut out with her scissors the part
of her clothes below his head and made her escape.
When the Water-horse awoke and missed her it made
a dreadful outcry.
This tale, with unimportant variations, is known
over the whole Highlands. Sometimes the young
woman is sitting on the turf wall (totd) forming the
end of the house when the Water-horse, in the shape
of a handsome young man, comes her way ; sometimes
she is one of a band of women, assembled at the
summer shieling — the rest are killed and she makes
her escape. She detects the character of the youth by
the water weeds or the sand in his hair. Many of the
stories add that the young man (or Water-horse) came
for her on a subsequent Sunday after dinner, or to
church, to which (as in the story of the Water-horse
of Loch Assapol in the Ross of Mull) she went for
WATER-HORSE AND WOMEN. 213
security rather than keep an appointment previously-
made with him, and took her to the loch. In Suther-
landshire the scene of the incident is laid at Loch
Meudaidh in Durness, and the descendants of the
woman to whom it occurred are still pointed out. She
detected the young man by the sand in his hair, and
on looking back, after she had got to some distance,
she saw him tearing up the earth in his fury.^
A Water-horse in man's shape came to a house in
which there was a woman alone ; at the time she was
boiling water in a clay vessel (croggan), such as was
in use before iron became common. The Water-horse,
after looking on for some time, drew himself nearer to
her, and said in a snuffling voice, " It is time to begin
courting, Sarah, daughter of John, son of Finlay." " It
is time, it is time,'' she replied, " when the little pitcher
boils.'' In a while it repeated the same words and
drew itself nearer. She gave the same answer drawing
out the time as best she could, till the water was
boiling hot. As the snuffling youth was coming too
near she threw the scalding water between his legs,
and he ran out of the house roaring and yelling with
pain.
^ Such was the terror inspired a few years ago by a report that the
Water-horse of Loch Meudaidh had made its re-appearance that the natives
would not take home peats that they had cut at the end of the loch by boat
(the only way open to them), and the fuel was allowed to go waste.
214 THE WATER-HORSE.
THE WATER-HORSE AT LOCH BASIBOL, TIREE.
On the north side of this loch, which has been
already mentioned as a haunt of the Water-horse, there
was a farm, where there are now only blowing sand-
banks, called the Town of the Clumsy Ones {Baile
nan Crdganach) from five men, who resided there,
having each six fingers on every hand. They were
brothers, and it was said the Water-horse came every
night, in the shape of a young man, to see a sister,
who staid with them.
With the tendency of popular tales to attach them-
selves to known persons, this incident is related of
Calum Mor Clarke and his family. Calum had three
sons, Big Fair John {Iain Ban Mbr), Young Fair John
{Iain Ban Og), and Middle Fair John {Iain Ban Mead-
honacU). The four conspired to beguile the young
man from the loch, who came to see the daughter, into
the house, and got him to sit between two of them on
the front of the bed. On a given signal these two
clasped their hands round him and laid him on his
back in the bed. The other two rushed to their
assistance ; the young man assumed his proper shape
of a Water-horse and a fearful struggle ensued. The
conspirators cut the horse in pieces with their dirks,
and put it out of the house dead.^
' A Water-horse was killed in Skye, where the stream from Eisgeadal
falls into Loch Fada, at the foot of Storr, by sticking a knife into it. It
had previously killed a man.
WATER-HORSE AT LOCH BASIBOL, TIREE. 215
Not far from the south end of the same loch there
is a place called Fhaire na h-aon oidhcK, ' the one
night's watch,' said to derive its name from an incident
of which the Water-horse was the hero, similar to that
told of the Urisk of Glen Maili (see page 197).
THE KELPIE.
The Kelpie that swells torrents and devours women
and children has no representative in Gaelic super-
stition. Some writers speak as if the Water-horse were
to be identified with it, but the two animals are dis-
tinctly separate. The Water-horse haunts lochs, the
Kelpie streams and torrents. The former is never
accused of swelling torrents any more than of causing
any other natural phenomenon, nor of taking away
children, unless perhaps when wanted to silence a
refractory child. A Shetland friend writes : " Kelpies,
I cannot remember of ever hearing what shape they
were of They generally did their mischief in a quiet
way, such as being seen splashing the water about the
burns, and taking hold of the water-wheel of mills, and
holding them still. I have heard a man declare, that
his mill was stopped one night for half an hour and
the full power of water on the wheel, and he was
frightened himself to go out and see what was wrong.
And he not only said but maintained that it was a
Kelpie or something of that kind that did it."
2i6 THE WATER-BULL.
THE WATER-BULL {Tarbli IJirge).
This animal, unlike the Water-horse, was of harmless
character, and did no mischief to those who came near
its haunts. It staid in little lonely moorland lochs,
whence it issued only at night It was then heard
lowing near the loch, and came among the farmers'
cattle, but was seldom seen. Calves having short ears,
as if the upper part had been cut off with a knife, or,
as it is termed in Gaelic, Carc-chluasach {i.e. knife-eared),
were said to be its offspring. It had no ears itself and
hence its calves had only half ears."^
In the district of Lorn, a dairy-maid and herd, before
leaving in the evening the fold, in which the cows had
been gathered to be milked and left for the night, saw
a small ugly very black animal, bull-shaped, soft and
slippery, coming among the herd. It had an unnatural
bellow, something like the crowing of a cock. The
man and woman fled in terror, but, on coming back in
the morning, found the cattle lying in the fold as
though nothing had occurred.
THE KING OTTER.
The Water Dog {Dobhar-Chii), called also the King
Otter {Righ nan Dbbkran), is a formidable animal,
seldom seen, having a skin of magic power, worth as
' Corc-chluasach is also applied to calves the ears of which are in any way
naturally marked, as if with a knife, slit in the points, serrated in the upper
part, or with a piece out of the back.
THE KING OTTER. 217
many guineas as are required to cover it. It goes at
the head of every band of seven, some say nine, otters,
and is never killed without the death of a man, woman,
or dog. It has a white spot below the chin, on which
alone it is vulnerable. A piece of its skin keeps mis-
fortune away from the house in which it is kept, renders
the soldier invulnerable in battle by arrow or sword or
bullet, and placed in the banner makes the enemy turn
and fly. " An inch of it placed on the soldier's eye,"
as a Lochaber informant said, " kept him from harm or
hurt or wound though bullets flew about him like
hailstones, and naked swords clashed at his breast.
When a direct aim was taken, the gun refused fire."
Others say the vulnerable white spot was under the
King Otter's arm, and of no larger size than a sixpence.
When the hunter took aim he required to hit this
precise spot, or he fell a prey to the animal's dreadful
jaws. In Raasa and the opposite mainland the magic
power was said to be in a jewel in its head, which made
its possessor invulnerable and secured him good fortune ;
but in other respects the belief regarding the King Otter
is the same as elsewhere.
The word dobhar (pronounced dooar, dour), signifying
water, is obsolete in Gaelic except in the name of this
animal.
BIASD NA SROGAIG.
This mythical animal, ' the beast of the lowering
horn,' seems to have been peculiar to Skye. It had
2i8 BIASD NA SROGAIG.
but one horn on its forehead, and, Hke the Water-bull,
staid in lochs. It was a large animal with long legs, of
a clumsy and inelegant make, not heavy and thick, but
tall and awkward. Its principal use seems to have
been to keep children quiet, and it is little to be
wondered at if, in the majority of cases, the terrors of
childhood became a creed in maturer years. Scrogag,
from which it derives its name, is a ludicrous name
given to a snuff horn and refers to the solitary horn
on its forehead.
THE BIG BEAST OF LOCHAWE.
This animal {Beathach tnhr Loch Odhd) had twelve
legs and was to be heard in winter time breaking the
ice. Some say it was like a horse, others, like a large
eel.
CHAPTER VI.
SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT ANIMALS.
Buarach-bhaoi, lamprey. — The Buarach-bhaoi (lit.
wild or wizard shackle), called also Buarach na Baoi
(the shackle of the furious one), was believed to be a
leech or eel-like animal to be found at certain fords
and in dark waters, that twisted itself like a shackle
round the feet of passing horses, so that they fell and
were drowned. It then sucked their blood. It had
nine eyes or holes in its head and back, at which the
blood it sucked came out. Hence it was called
Buarach-bhaoi nan sMlean claon (the furious shackle
of the squinting eyes). In Skye, it was believed the
animal was to be found in Badenoch. It was said to
haunt the dark waters of Loch Tummel {Tethuil, hot
flood, from the impetuosity of the river), in Perthshire,
and was also known on the west coast of Argyllshire.
The word is translated ' lamprey ' in dictionaries, but
the description suggests the tradition of some species of
gymnotus or electric eel.
219
220 SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT ANIMALS.
Cirein Croin, Sea Serpent. — This was the largest
animal in the world, as may be inferred from a popular
Caithness rhyme :
'' Seven herring are a salmon's fill,
Seven salmon are a seal's fill,
Seven seal's are a whale's fill,
And seven whales the fill of a Cirein Croin."
To this is sometimes added, " seven Cirein Croin are
the fill of the big devil himself" This immense sea-
animal is also called Mial mkbr a chuain, the great
beast of the ocean, cuartag mhbr a chuain, the great
whirlpool of the ocean, and uile-bheisd a chuain, the
monster of the ocean. It was originally a whirlpool, or
the sea-snake of the Edda, that encircled the whole
world.
Gigelorum. — The Giolcam-daoram, or Gigelorum, is
the smallest of all animals. It makes its nest in the
mite's ear and that is all that is known about it.
Lavellan. — This animal is peculiar to the north, where
it is said to be able to hurt cattle from a distance of
forty yards : " Lavellan, animal in Cathanesia frequens,
in aquis degit, capite mustelae sylvestri simile,
ejusdemque coloris, bestia est. Halitu Bestiis nocet.
Remedium autem est, si de aqua bibant in qua ejus
caput coctum est." (Sibbald's Scot. III., lib. 3, fol. 11.)
Pennant, when at Ausdale, Langwell, Caithness-shire,
says : " I inquired here after the Lavellan, which, from
description, I suspect to be the water shrew mouse.
LAVELLAN. ii\
The country people have a notion that it is noxious to
cattle ; they preserve the skin, and, as a cure for their
sick beasts, give them the water in which it has been
dipt. I believe it to be the same animal which, in
Sutherland, is called the water mole.'' It is also
mentioned by Rob Donn, the Sutherland bard, in his
satirical song on " Mac Rorie's Breeches " : " Let him
not go away from the houses, to moss or wood, lest the
Lavellan come and smite him."
Bernicle Goose, Cadhan. — In the Hebrides, as in
England, the Bernicle Goose was believed to grow from
the thoracic worm, attaching itself to floating wood that
has been some time in the water, often so closely as to
hide the surface of the log. Caluin na Crbige, a native
of Croig in Mull, who went about the country some
thirty or forty years ago, the delight of youngsters by
his extraordinary tales of personal adventures and of
wonders he had seen, and the energy with which, sitting
astride on a stool, he raised with their assistance the
anchor, hoisted sail, and performed other nautical feats„
told that in the Indian seas, he and a comrade jumped
overboard to swim to land. They swam for a week before
reaching shore, but the water was so warm they felt no
inconvenience. The loveliest music Calum ever heard
was that made by Bernicle Geese as they emerged
from barnacles that grew on the soles of his feet !
Eels {Easgunri). — It is still a very common belief in
the Highlands that eels grow from horse hairs. In a
222 SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT ANIMALS.
village of advanced opinions in Argyllshire, the follow-
ing story was heard from a person who evidently
believed it :
" In the island of Harris, in a time of scarcity, a
person went out for fish, and succeeded only in getting
eels. These animals are not eaten in the Highlands
and his wife would not taste them. The man himself
ate several. By and by he went mad, and his wife had
to go for succour to a party of Englishmen, who had a
shooting lodge near. On arriving with loaded guns,
the sportsmen found the eel-eater in the fields fighting
a horse. He was so violent that they had to shoot
him. On inquiry it turned out that the cause of his
madness and fighting the horse was that the eels he
had eaten had grown from horse hairs ! "
W/ia/e.—The round-headed porpoises, or caaing
whales (inucun bearraich, lit. dog-fish pigs), derive their
Gaelic name from being supposed to grow from dog-
fish. An overgrown dog-fish, still retaining its own
shape, is called Burraghlas.
Herring. — The food of the Herring is said to consist
of Crustacea and small fishes, but there is ordinarily
so little appearance of food in their stomach that an
easier explanation has been found in saying, they live
■on the foam they make with their own tails ! A door-
keeper at Dowart Castle is said to have successfully
warned a M'Kinnon from Skye of the dangers awaiting
Jiim at the banquet to which he had been invited, by
HERRING. 223
asking him if they were getting any herring in the
north at present, and then praising the herring as a
royal fish {iasg rigJi) that never was caught by its
mouthful of food or drink {air a bhalguni no air a
ghreint). On hearing this remark M'Kinnon turned on
his heel and made his escape.
Flounder. — According to Sutherland tradition, the
wry mouth of the flounders {Lebbag, as it is called in
the north) arose from its making faces at the rock-cod.
A judgment (which children, who make faces, are liable
to) came upon it, and its mouth remains as it then
twisted it. In Tiree and lona the distortion is said to
have been caused by St. Columba. Colum-Kil met a
shoal of flounders and asked :
" Is this a removal, flounder?"
" Yes it is, Colum-Kil crooked legs," said the
flounder.
" If I have crooked legs," said St. Columba, " may
you have a crooked mouth," and so the flounder has a
wry mouth to this day.
Lobster. — The three animals that dart quickest and
farthest in the sea, according to a popular and perhaps
truthful rhyme, are the lobster, mackerel, and seal.
" The dart of lobster, the dart of mackerel, and the dart
of seal ; and though far the lobster's dart, farther is the
mackerel's dart, and though far the mackerel's dart,
farther is the seal's dart."
Serpents. — A serpent, whenever encountered, ought
224 SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT ANIMALS.
to be killed. Otherwise, the encounter will prove an
omen of evil. The head should be completely smashed
(air a spleatradfi), and removed to a distance from the
rest of the body. Unless this is done, the serpent will
again come alive. The tail, unless deprived of anima-
tion, will join the body, and the head becomes a beithis,
the largest and most deadly kind of serpent.^ A
person stung by one should rush to the nearest water.
Unless he reaches it before the serpent, which also
makes straight for it, he will die from the wound.
Another cure for the sting is water in which the head
of another serpent has been put. There was a man in
Applecross who cured epilepsy by water in which he kept
a living serpent. The patient was not to see the water.
Farquhar, the physician, obtained his skill in the healing
art from being the first to taste the juice of a white
serpent. He was a native of Tongue, in Sutherland-
shire, and on one occasion was met by a stranger, who
asked him where he got the walking-stick he held in
his hand. The stranger further got him to go to the
root of the tree from which the stick had been cut, take
a white serpent from a hole at its foot and boil it. He
was to give the juice without touching it to the
' The big beast of Scanlastle in Islay was one of this kind. It devoured
seven horses on its way to Loch-in-daal. A ship was lying at anchor in the
loch at the time, and a line of barrels filled with deadly spikes, and with
pieces of flesh laid upon them, was placed from the shore to the ship.
Tempted by the flesh, the ' loathly worm ' made its way out on the barrels
and was killed by the spikes and cannon.
'SERPENTS. 225
stranger. Farquhar happened to touch the mess with
his finger, and it being very hot, he thrust his finger in
his mouth. From that moment he acquired his un-
rivalled skill as a physician, and the juice lost its virtue.
A week previous to St. Bridget's Day (ist February,
O.S.) the serpents are obliged to leave their holes
under ground, and if the ground is then covered with
snow they perish. In the popular rhyme relating to
the subject the serpent in Argyllshire and Perthshire is
called the ' daughter of Edward,' but in Skye ait
ribhinn, the damsel. In both cases the name is
probably a mere euphemism suggested by the rhyme to
avoid giving unnecessary offence to the venomous
creature.
Rats and Mice. — When a place is infested to a
troublesome extent with rats or mice, and all other
means of getting rid of the pests have failed, the object
can be accomplished by composing a song, advising
them to go away, telling them where to go, and what
road to take, the danger awaiting them where they
are, and the plenty awaiting them in their new quarters.
This song is called the Rat (or Mouse) Satire, and if
well composed the vermin forthwith take their de-
parture.
When the islet of Calv {an Calbh, the inner door),
which lies across the mouth of Tobermory harbour, was
let in small holdings, the rats at one time became so
numerous that the tenants subscribed sixpence a-piece,
226 SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT ANIMALS.
and sent for Iain Pholchrain to Morven, to come and
satjrize the rats away. He came and made a long ode,
in which he told the rats to go away peaceably, and
take care not to lose themselves in the wood. He told
them what houses to call at, and what houses (those of
the bard's own friends) to avoid, and the plenty and
welcome stores — butter and cheese, and meal — to be got
at their destination. It is said that after this there was
an observable decrease in the number of rats in the
island !
An Ardnamurchan man, pestered with mice, in
strong language tried to get them away, and all who
have had experience of the annoyance, will heartily
join him in his wishes. The poet, with whips and
switches, gathers the mice in a meadow near a stream,
and sends a number of the drollest characters in the
district to herd them, and ' old men, strong men,
striplings, and honest matronly women, with potato
beetles,' to chase them. At last he gets them on board
a boat at Eabar an rbin, and sends them to sea.
" The sea roaring boisterously.
The ocean heaving and weltering,
The tearing sound of sails splitting.
The creaking of the keel breaking.
The bilge water through the hull splashing
Like an old horse neighing."
And leaving them in this evil plight, the song ceases.
Cormorant. — This bird passes through three stages of
existence , it is "seven years a scart {^pelecanus cristatus),
CORMORANT. 227
seven years a speckled loon {colymbus arcticus), and seven
years a cormorant {pelecanus carbo) " (SeacM bliadhna
na sgarbh, seachd bliadhna na learg,'s seachd bliadhna na
bhallaire bodhain).
Magpie. — The pyet {piaghaid) is called ' the mes-
senger of the Campbells ' {Gille ruith nan Caimbeulach),
a name also given (for what reason the writer has not
been able to ascertain) to a person who is ' garrulous,
lying, interfering with everbody ' {gobach, briagach, 'g
obair air na h-uile duine). It is said of a meddling
chatterbox, " What a messenger of the Campbells you
have become ! " It is ' little happiness ' {beagan sonais)
for any one to kill a magpie.
Beetles. — The Ceardalan or dung-beetle is spared by
boys when met with, but the daolag or clock is merci-
lessly l^illed. The reason assigned is, that when the
former met those who came to seize the person of our
Saviour, and was asked how long since he had passed,
it said, "twenty days ago yesterday" {fhichead latha gus
an de, chaidh Mac Dhe seachad), but the latter said, " it
was only yesterday " {an de, an de chaidh Mac Dhe
seachad). Hence, when boys hammer the life out of a
'clock,' they keep repeating with savage unction, "The
day before yesterday, wretch " {air a bhb 'n de, bhradag),
or a rhyme ;
" Remember yesterday, yesterday,
Remember yesterday, wretch,
Remember yesterday, yesterday,
That let not the Son of God pass."
228 SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT ANIMALS.
Emmet {Caora-Chbsag). — This animal is shaken be-
tween the palms of the hand and laid upon the table.
It is believed by boys to indicate the weather of the
following day, by lighting on its back or belly and the
alacrity with which it moves away.
Skip-Jack. — This insect {Gobhachan, i.e. little smith
or Buail a Cknag, give a knock), when laid on its back
emits a loud crack in springing to its proper position.
It is a favourite amusement of boys when they get hold
of one to make it go through this performance. In
Skye, when watching it preparing to skip, they say,
" Strike with your hammer, little smith,
Or I will strike your head." ^
' Buail an t-6rd, a ghobachain,
No buailidh mi sa cheann thu."
CHAPTER VII.
MISCELLANEOUS SUPERSTITIONS.
Gisvagun, Eapagun, Upagun. — Of the same class with
magical charms and incantations, that is, of no avail to
produce the results with which they are credited, were
various minor observances and practices, to which im-
portance was attached as lucky or unlucky, and ominous
of, if not conducive to, future good or ill. In some cases
these observances became mere customs, followed with-
out heed to their significance or efficacy; and many were
known to, and believed in only by, the very superstitious.
So far as causing or leading to the result ascribed to
them was concerned, they were, 'like the Sunday plant,'
without good or harm, but a mind swayed by trifling
erroneous beliefs of the kind is like a room filled with
cobwebs. Superstition shuts out the light, makes the
mind unhealthy, and fills it with groundless anxieties.
The Right- Hand Turn {Deiseal). — This was the most
important of all the observances. The rule is " Deiseal
{i.e. the right-hand turn) for everything," and consists in
229
230 MISCELLANEOUS SUPERSTITIONS.
doing all things with a motion corresponding to the
course of the sun, or from left to right. This is the
manner in which screw-nails are driven, and is common
with many for no reason but its convenience. Old men
in the Highlands were very particular about it. The
coffin was taken deiseal about the grave, when about to
be lowered ; boats were turned to sea according to it,
and drams are given to the present day to a company.
When putting a straw rope on a house or corn-stack, if
the assistant went tuaitheal {i.e. against the course of
the sun), the old man was ready to come down and
thrash him. On coming to a house the visitor should
go round it deiseal to secure luck in the object of his
visit. After milking a cow the dairy-maid should strike
it deiseal with the shackle, saying " out and home "
(inach 'us dachaigh). This secures its safe return. The
word is from deas, right-hand, and iul, direction, and of
itself contains no allusion to the sun.
Rising and Dressing. — It is unfortunate to rise out of
bed on one's left side. It is a common saying when evil
befalls a person, who seems to himself to have rushed to
meet it, " I did not rise on my right hand to-day." ^
Water in which eggs have been boiled or washed
should not be used for washing the hands or face. It
is also a common saying when mischance befalls a
person through his own stupidity, " I believe egg-
water was put over me."
^ " Is mise nach d'eirich air mo laimh dheis an duigh."
RISING AND DRESSING. 231
When done washing himself a person should spit in
the water, otherwise if the same water should be used
by another for a like purpose, there will be danger of
quarrelling with him before long.
Clothes. — When a person puts on a new suit it is
customary to wish him luck of it : " May you enjoy
and wear it." A man should be always the first to do
this, the tailor, if he has the good sense. It is unlucky
if a woman be the first to say it, and prudent women
delay their congratulations and good wishes till they
are satisfied some male friend has spoken first. It is
less unfortunate if the woman has had a male child.
If a person wearing a dress dyed with crotal, a
species of lichen, be drowned, his body will never be
found. This belief prevails in the north, and there
the home-made dress indicated, which is of a reddish -
brown colour, is frequently seen.
Houses and Lands. — There should be placed below
the foundation of every house a cat's claws, a man's
nails, and a cow's hoofs, and silver under the door-post.
These will prove omens of the luck to attend the house.
If an outgoing tenant leaves the two former below the
door it is unfortunate for the incoming tenant, as his
cattle will die.
An expectant occupier, or claimant, will secure to
himself possession of land by burning upon it a little
straw. This straw was called ' a possession wisp ' (ySop
seilbke). If, for instance, there were two claimants to
232 MISCELLANEOUS SUPERSTITIONS.
land and one of them burnt a ' possession wisp' on it,
he might go about his business with his mind easy as
to the result of the lawsuit. Or, if a tenant ran in debt
and had to leave his farm, another, who had a promise
of the holding, came and burnt a ' possession wisp,' no
evil or debt of those formerly attaching to it would
then follow the holding.
Baking. — In baking oatmeal cakes there is a little
meal left on the table after the last cake is sprinkled
previous to being fired. This remnant should not be
thrown away or returned to the meal chest, but be
kneaded between the palms into a little cake, to be
given to one of the children. This little bannock was
the Bonnach Fallaid, called also Siantachan a chlair
(the charmer of the board), to which in olden times
housewives attached so much importance. Unless it
was made the meal lost its substance, and the bread of
that baking would not be lasting {baan). On putting
a hole through it with the forefinger, as already
explained, it was given to children, and placed beside
women in childbed, to keep the Fairies away. It
mightily pleased little children, and was given to them
as a reward for making themselves useful.
" A little cake to Finlay,
For going to the well."
Its origin is said to have been as follows :
A man fell in with a skull in a graveyard and took
it to a tailor's house, where bread was being baked.
BAKING. 233
The tailor gave it a kick, saying, " There was one period
of the world when your gabful of dough was not small,
and if I had you on a New- Year's day, I would give
you your fill." When the New Year came round, a
stranger came to the tailor's house asking for a mouth-
ful of dough. The tailor set his wife to bake, and what-
ever she baked the stranger ate, and then asked for more.
The tailor's stock of meal, and that of his neighbours,
was devoured, and still the stranger asked for more.
An old man of the neighbourhood was consulted, and
he advised that the remnants, or dry meal used for
sprinkling the cakes, should also be baked for the
voracious guest. On this Fallaid cake being given the
stranger declared himself satisfied and went away.
If bread, when being baked, breaks frequently a
hungry stranger will come to eat it. Many cakes
breaking are a sign of misfortune, by which the
housewife is warned that " something is making for
her."
If the cake for breakfast falls backwards, the person
for whom it is intended should not be allowed to go on
a journey that day; his journey will not be prosperous.
The evil can, however, be remedied by giving plenty of
butter, ' without asking,' with the cake. To avert this
omen, cakes should not be placed to harden at the fire
on their points, but on either of the two sides or on
their round edge. An old woman in Islay got into a
great rage at a wake on seeing the cakes (that is.
234 MISCELLANEOUS SUPERSTITIONS.
quarters of a farl or large round bannock) placed on
their points.
It is not good to count the cakes when done baking.
They will not in that case last any time.
Removal Cheese {Mulchag ImricJi). — When leaving
the summer pastures in the hills, on Lammas day, and
returning with the cattle to the strath, a small cheese
made of curds was made from that day's milk, to be
given to the children and all who were at the airidh,
for luck and good-will. The cows were milked early
in the morning, curds were made and put in the cheese
vat {fioghan), and this hastily-prepared cheese was the
mulchag iinrich, and was taken with the rest of the
furniture home for the purpose mentioned.
Leg Cake {Bonnach Lurgainri). — This was a cake
given to the herd when he came with news that a mare
had foaled, or to the dairy-maid when she brought word
that a cow had calved.
Giving Fire out of the House. — On the first day of
every quarter of the year — New- Year day, St Bride's
day. Beltane, and Lammas — no fire should be given out
of the house. On the two last days especially it should
not be given, even to a neighbour whose fire had gone
out. It would give him the means of taking the
substance or benefit {toradh) from the cows. If given,
after the person who had come for it left, a piece of
burning peat (ceann fbid) should be thrown into a tub
of water, to keep him from doing harm. It will also
GIVING FIRE OUT OF THE HOUSE. 235
prevent his coming again. On New- Year's day fire
should not be given out of the house on any considera-
tion to a doubtful person. If he is evil-disposed, not a
beast will be alive next New Year. A suspected witch
came on this day to a neighbour's house for fire, her
own having gone out, and got it. When she went
away a burning peat was thrown into a tub of water.
She came a second time and the precaution was again
taken. The mistress of the house came in, and on
looking in the tub found it full of butter.
Thunder. — In a storm of thunder and lightning iron,
for instance the poker and tongs, put in the fire, averts
all danger from the house. This curious belief seems
to have been widespread at one time throughout the
Western Highlands, though now its memory barely
survives. Its rationale seems to have been in some way
to propitiate the fire, of which lightning is the most
powerful exhibition. A woman in Cnoydart (a Roman
Catholic district), alarmed by the peals of a thunder-
storm, threw holy water on herself, put the tongs in the
fire, and on being asked the reason, said, " The cross of
Christ be upon us ! the fire will not harm us." Perhaps
the practice had some connection with the belief that the
Beither, or thunder-bolt, was of iron, a sharp-pointed
mass. It seems one of the most irrational practices
possible, but was probably of remote origin. In Kent
and Herefordshire, a cold iron bar was put on the barrels,
to keep the beer from being soured by thunder.
236 MISCELLANEOUS SUPERSTITIONS.
Theft. — The stealing of salt, seed of plants, and lint
make the thief liable to judgment without mercy. He
may escape punishment from men but he will never
attain to rest, as the rhyme says:
" The stealer of salt, and the stealer of seeds,
Two thieves that get no rest ;
Whoever may or may not escape,
The stealer of grey lint will not." '
Another version of the rhyme is :
" Thief of salt and thief of seeds.
Two thefts from which the soul gets no repose ;
Till the fish comes on land
The thief of hnt gets never rest."
Salt. — In addition to the testimony this rhyme bears to
the value of salt, there was a saying, that a loan of salt
should be returned as soon as possible ; if the borrower
dies in the meantime and without restitution being made
his ghost will revisit the earth. No fish should be given
out of the house without being first sprinkled with salt.
Meal taken out of the house in the evening was
sprinkled with salt to prevent the Fairies getting its
benefit.
Combing the Hair. — A person should not comb his
hair at night, or if he does, every hair that comes out
should be put in the fire. Otherwise they will meet
his feet in the dark and make him stumble. No sister
' " Meiileach salainn 's nieiileach frois,
Da mheirleach nach fhaigh fois ;
Ge b'e co thig no nach d'thig a nios,
Ch^ d'thig meirleach an hn ghlais."
COMBING THE HAIR. 237
should comb her hair at night if she have a brother
at sea.
If the hair is allowed to go with the wind and it
passes over an empty nest, or a bird takes it to its nest,
the head from which it came will ache.
No person should cut his own hair, as he will by
doing so become an unlucky person to meet.
If the hair, when thrown on the fire, will not burn, it
is a sign the person will be drowned.
Bird Nests. — On falling in with a nest for the first
time that year, if there be only one egg in it, or if there
be an odd egg in it, that egg should be broken.
Any one finding a cuckoo's nest will live to be ,
widowed.
Hen's First Egg. — A young hen's first egg should
be tapped on the hearth, saying, "one, two, three," etc.,
and as many numbers as were repeated before the egg
broke, or the youngster, who was persuaded to try
the experiment, got tired, so many eggs would that hen
lay.
Euphemisms. — By giving diseases and other evils a
good name, when speaking of them, the danger of
bringing them upon oneself by his words is turned
away. It will be remembered that for a similar reason
the ancients called the Fairies Eumenides, and the Celt
called the Fairies ' good people.' The smallpox was
called ' the good woman.' Epilepsy ' the outside
disease.'
238 MISCELLANEOUS SUPERSTITIONS.
In telling a tale of any one being taken away by the
Fairies, the ill-will of the ' people ' was averted by
prefixing the narrative with the words, " A blessing on_
their journeying and travelling ! this is Friday and they
will not hear us."
When a person sneezes it is customary for the
bystander to say "Thank you," to which is sometimes
added, " We will not take his name in vain." Some
say, " God be with you," others, " God and Mary be
with you," and others, " St. Columba be with you." By
saying, " The hand of your father and grandfather be
over you," the Fairies are kept away. Any words
would seem to have been deemed availing, and some
of the phrases used were not choice. If the bystander
should say, "Your brains the next time!" the person
sneezing should answer, " The bowl of your head inter-
cept them ! "
When a child yawns, the nurse should say,
" Your weariness and heaviness be on yonder grey
stone ! "
When the story of a house having taken fire is told,
the narrative should be prefixed by saying, " St Mary's
well be in the top of every house ! the cross of Christ
be upon us ! " This averts a similar calamity from the
house in which the tale is told.
In some places old people are to be found who,
when a person comes in with any tale of misfortune,
of the death of one of the cattle, a neighbour's house
EUPHEMISMS. 239
taking fire, etc., pull threads from their clothes and
throw them in the fire, saying, "Out with the evil tale!"
or, " To tell it to themselves."
In speaking of the dead, it is proper to speak of
them only in commendatory terms — de mortuis nihil
nisi bonum. Hence moladh mairbh (Praise of the
Dead) denotes faint praise, not always deserved. In
speaking of the dead, old people always added, " His
share of paradise be his " [chuid a fhlaitheanas da), or
" His portion of mercy be his " {chuid a throcair da).
If their tale was not to the credit of the deceased or
they were obliged to make any statement unfavourable
to him, they said, " It is not to send it after him."
Boat Language. — When in a boat at sea, sailing or
fishing, it was forbidden to call things by the names by
which they were known on land. The boat-hook
should not be called croman, but a chliob ; a knife, not
sgian, but a ghiar (the sharp one); the baling dish, not
taonian, but spiiidseir; a seal, not rbn, but bt'isd inhaol
(the bald beast) ; a fox, not sionnach, but madadh ricadh
(the red dog); the stone for anchoring the boat was
not clach, but cruaidh (hardness). This practice pre-
vails much more on the east coast than on the west,
where it may be said to be generally extinct. It is
said to be carefully observed among the fishermen
about the Cromarty Firth. It was deemed unlucky by
east coast fishermen coming to Tiree (as several boats
used to do annually to prosecute the cod and ling
240 MISCELLANEOUS SUPERSTITIONS.
fishing), to speak in a boat of a minister or a
rat. Everywhere it was deemed unlucky among
seafaring men to whistle in case a storm should
arise. In Tiree, Heynish Hill (the highest in the
island) was known at sea as a Bkraonach; Hogh Hill
(the next highest) as Bheinn Bhearnach no Sgoillte (the
Notched or Cloven Hill), and a species of whale as cas
napoite (the leg of a pot). It should not be said " He
was drowned " {bhathadh e) but " he journeyed "
{shiubhail e) ; not " tie a rope " {ceangail rbp), but
" make it " {dean e). In the north it was held that an
otter, while in its den, should not be called beisd du (the
black beast, its common name), but Carnag. It would
otherwise be impossible for the terriers to drive it from
its refuge.
Fresh Meat. — When fresh meat of the year's growth
is tasted for the first time, a person should say,
" A death-shroud on the grey, better grey, old woman,
Who said she would not taste the fresh meat,
I will taste the fresh meat.
And will be alive for it next year."
This ensures another year's lease of life.
Killing those too long alive. — If a person is thought
to be too long alive, and it becomes desirable to get rid
of him, his death can he ensured by bawling to him
thrice through the key-hole of the room in which he is
bedrid,
" Will you come, or will' you go ?
Or will you eat the flesh of cranes ? "
FUNERALS. 241
Funerals. — It was customary to place a plate of salt,
the smoothing iron, or a clod of green grass on the
breast of a corpse, while laid out previous to being
coffined. This, it was believed, kept it from swelling.
A candle was left burning beside it all night. When
it was placed in the coffin and taken away on the day
of the funeral, the boards on which it had been lying
were left for the night as they were, with a drink of
water on them, in case the dead should return and be
thirsty. Some put the drink of w^ater or of milk
outside the door, and, as in Mull and Tiree, put a sprig
of pearlswort above the lintel to prevent the dead from
entering the house.
When coffining the corpse every string in the shroud
was cut with the scissors; and in defence of the
practice there was a story that, after burial, a woman's
shade came to her friends, to say that all the strings
in her shroud had not been cut. Her grave was opened,
and this was found to be the case.
The only instance the writer has heard of Cere-cloth,
that is, cloth dipped in wax in w^hich dead bodies were
wrapped, being used in the Highlands, is, that the
Nicholsons of Scorrybreck, in Skye (a family said to be
of Russian descent through Neacal inhr who was in
Mungastadt), had a wax shirt {Leine Ch£r) which, from
the friendship between themselves and the chief of the
Macleods, was sent for from Dunvegan on every occa-
sion of a death.
Q
242 MISCELLANEOUS SUPERSTITIONS.
The Watch of the Graveyard {Faire Chlaidh). — The
person last buried had to keep watch over the grave-
yard till the next funeral came. This was called Faire
Chlaidh, the graveyard watch, kept by the spirits of the
departed.
At Kiel {Cill Challum Chille), in Morvern, the body
of the Spanish Princess said to have been on board one
of the Armada blown up in Tobermory Bay was buried.
Two young men of the district made a paction, that
whoever died first the other would watch the church-
yard for him. The survivor, when keeping the
promised watch, had the sight of his dead friend as
well as his own. He saw both the material world and
spirits. Each night he saw ghosts leaving the church-
yard and returning before morning. He observed that
one of the ghosts was always behind the rest when
returning. He spoke to it, and ascertained it to be
the ghost of the Spanish Princess. Her body had been
removed to Spain, but one of her little fingers had been
left behind, and she had to come back to where it was.
When two funeral parties met at the churchyard, a
fight frequently ensued to determine who should get
their friend first buried.
Suicides. — The bodies of suicides were not taken out
of the house, for burial, by the doors, but through an
opening made between the wall and the thatch. They
were buried, along with unbaptized children, outside the
common churchyard.
SUICIDES. 243
It was believed in the north, as in Skye and about
Applecross (« ChomracK) in Ross-shire, no herring would
be caught in any part of the sea which could be seen
from the grave of a suicide.
Murder. — It was believed in Sutherlandshire that a
murdered body remained undecayed till 'touched.
The Harvest Old Wife [a ChailleacK). — In harvest,
there was a struggle to escape being the last done with
the shearing, and when tillage in common existed,
instances were known of a ridge being left unshorn (no
person would claim it) because of it being behind the
rest. The fear entertained was that of having the
* famine of the farm ' (^gort a bhaile), in the shape of
an imaginary old woman [cailleacK), to feed till next
harvest. Much emulation and amusement arose from
the fear of this old woman ; and from it arose the
expression, " Better is a mercy-leap in harvest than a
sheaf additional " (^As fearr leuni-iochd a's t ' fhogaradk
na sguab a bkarrackd). The cum-iochd^ or mercy-leap,
is where a rocky mound or a soft spot, where no corn
grows, occurs in a ridge. Its occurrence was a great
help to the shearing being done.
The first done made a doll of some blades of corn,
which was called the ' old wife,' and sent it to his
nearest neighbour. He in turn, when ready, passed it
to another still less expeditious, and the person it last
•* Leagadh-iochd is the remission of arrears of rent, lit. a merciful letting
down.
244 MISCELLANEOUS SUPERSTITIONS.
remained with had the ' old woman ' to keep for that
year. The old wife was known in Skye as the Cripple
Goat {a Ghobhar Bhacach).
The fear of the Cailleach in harvest made a man in
Saor-bheinn, in the Ross of Mull, who farmed his land
in common with another, rise and shear his corn by
moonlight. In the morning he found it was his neigh-
bour's corn he had cut.
Big Porridge Day {La u Bhrochain mhbr). — In the
Western Islands, in olden times (for the practice does
not now exist anywhere), when there was a winter
during which little sea-ware came ashore, and full
time for spring work had come without relief, a large
dish of porridge, made with butter and other good
ingredients, was poured into the sea on every headland
where wrack used to come. Next day the harbours
were full.
This device was to be resorted to only late in the
spring — the lona people say the Thursday before Easter
— and in stormy weather. The meaning of the ceremony
seems to have been that, bj'' sending the fruit of the
land into the sea, the fruit of the sea would come
to land.
Fires on Headlands. — In Skye, fires were lighted on
headlands at the beginning of winter to bring in
herrings.
Stances. — Particular stances, or sites of buildings,
were accounted unlucky, such for instance as the. site
STANCES. 245
of a byre in which the death of several cattle had
occurred ; and it was recommended, to prevent the
recurrence of such misfortunes, that the site should be
altered.
Names. — So with regard to names. If the children
of a family were dying in infancy, one after the other,
it was thought that, by changing the name, the evil
would be counteracted. The new name was called a
'Road name' {Ainm Rathaid), being that of the first
person encountered on the road when going with the
child to be baptized. It was given ' upon the luck '
(air sealbhaicK) of the person met.
The Mac-Rories, a sept of the Mac-Larens, in Perth-
shire, were descendants of one who thus received his
name. His parents, having lost a previous child before
its baptism, were advised to change the name. They
were on their way through the Pass, called Lairig Isle,
between Loch Erne and Glen-dochart, to have their
second child baptized, when they were met by one
Rory Mac Pherson. He was an entire stranger to
them, but turned back with them, as a stranger ought
to do to avoid being unlucky, and the child was called
after him. Ctann 'ic-Shimigeir, a sept of the Mac Neills,
have also a road name.
Delivery of Cattle and Horses. — -Before delivering a
cow to the buyer at a market, the seller should pass
the end of the rope, by which she is led, three times
round his body. When taking delivery of a horse.
246 MISCELLANEOUS SUPERSTITIONS.
from one of whom you are not sure, you should come
deiseal between him and the horse, and take hold of
the halter inside his hand, that is, between him and the
horse. Otherwise, the seller's eye will be after the
beast.
Trades. — Masons were said to be able to raise the
devil, or, as the Gaelic expression more forcibly describes
it, " to take the son of cursing from his roots " (mac-
niollachd thoirt as a fhriamhaichean).
Smiths, being people who work among iron, were
deemed of more virtue against the powers of evil than
any other tradesmen.
Tailors were looked upon with a feeling akin to that
entertained in the south, where " nine tailors made a
man." The reason probably was that in olden times
every man fit to bear arms thought it beneath him to
follow a peaceful occupation, and only the lame and
cripple were brought up as tailors.
Tinkers are known as Luckd-Ceaird, that is literallj^
' tradesmen,' and the name is a memory of days when
they held the first rank as hand-craftsmen.
Saor, a joiner, means literally ' a free-man,' whence
it would appear that from the earliest times the trade
was highly esteemed.
Iron. — An oath on cold iron was deemed the most
binding oath of any ; when people swore on their dirks
it was only because it was at the time the cold iron
readiest to hand. A man who secreted iron, and died
/RON. 247
without telling where, could not rest in his grave. At
Meigh, in Lochaber, a ghost for a long time met people
who were out late. An old man, having taken with
him a Bible and made a circle round himself on the
road with a dirk, encountered it, and, in reply to his
inquiries, the ghost confessed to having stolen a plough-
share {soc a cJiroinri), and told where the secreted iron
was to be found. After this the ghost discontinued its
visits to the earth.
Cold iron, e.g. the keys passed round the body of a
cow, after her return from the bull, keeps her from
atk-ddir, that is, seeking to go on the same journey
again.
Empty Shells. — Empty whelk shells (^Faochagun
failmke) should not be allowed to remain in the house
for the night. Something is sure to come after them.
Similarly, water in which feet have been washed {i.e.
out of which the use or benefit has been taken) should
not be left in the house for fear the noiseless people
come and plunge about in it all night.
Protection against Evil Spirits. — On every occasion of
danger and anxiety, the Highlander of former days
commended himself to the protection of the Cross. In
a storm of thunder he blessed himself saying, " the
Cross of Christ be upon us." When he encountered a
ghost or evil spirit at night, he drew a circle round
himself on the road with the point of his dirk, or a
sapling in the name of Christ, " the Cross of Christ be
248 MISCELLANEOUS SUPERSTITIONS.
upon me," and while he remained in the circle no evil
could come near hinl.
A person was also safe while below high-water mark.
Fairies and evil spirits had no power below the roll of
Sea-weed.
When walking the high road at night, it is recom-
mended to keep to the side paths in case of meeting
the wraiths of funerals. The ghostly train may throw
a person down, or compel him to carry the bier to the
churchyard.
Misnaming a Person. — If a person be accidentally
misnamed, as e.g. being called John when his name is
Donald, he who made the mistake, on observing it,
instantly exclaimed, " The Cross of Christ be upon
us."
, Gaining Straw {Sop Seile). — At certain seasons of
the year, principally at Beltane and Lammas, a wisp of
straw, called Sop-seile (literally a spittle wisp), was taken
to sprinkle the door-posts and houses all round sunwise
(deiseal), to preserve them from harm. When a new
cow came home it was also sprinkled to preserve it
from the evil eye. The liquid used was menstruum.
In spring the horses, harness, plough, etc., were simi-
larly sprinkled before beginning to plough.
Propitious Times. — A great number of the obser-
vances of superstition were regulated by days of
the week or year. There were certain days on which
alone certain works could be commenced under favour-
PROPITIOUS TIMES. 249
able auspices and with any chance of being successfully
done.
Unlucky Actions. — It is unlucky to wind black thread
at night. A vicious wish made to one another by
women quarrelling, in olden times, was, " The disease
of women who wind black thread at night be upon
you 1" Some say the reason of the evil omen is, that
black thread is apt to disappear at night, or be taken
by the Fairies, and be found through the house next
morning. Superstition probably assigned some more
occult reason.
It is ' little happiness ' for anyone to kill a magpie
or a bat.
It is unlucky for a person on a journey to return the
way he went. This belief had its origin in the instruc-
tions given to the ' man of God,' who rebuked the
idolatry of Jeroboam. " Eat no bread, nor drink water,
nor turn again by the same way that thou earnest"
(l Kings xiii. 9).
CHAPTER VIII.
AUGURY.i
The anxiety of men to know the future, the issue of
their labours, and the destinies awaiting them, makes
them ready Hsteners to the suggestions of fancy, and an
easy prey to deception. The mind eagerly lays hold
on anything that professes to throw light on the subject
of its anxiety, and men are willing victims to their own
hopes and fears. Where all is dark and inscrutable,
deception and delusion are easy, and hence augury of
all kinds, omens, premonitions, divinations, have ever
exercised a noticeable power over the human mind.
The ordinary manner which superstition takes to
forecast the future is to look upon chance natural
appearances under certain circumstances as indications of
the character, favourable or unfavourable, of the event
about which the mind is anxious. Any appearance in
nature, animate or inanimate, can thus be made an
omen of, and an inference be drawn from it of impend-
^ Manadaireachd,
250
AUGURY. 251
ing good or bad fortune. If it be gloomy, forbidding,
awkward, or unpleasant, it is an unlucky omen, and the
subsequent event, with which the mind associates it,
will be unfavourable, but if pleasant, then it is a good
omen, and prognosticates pleasant occurrences.
Omens which proceed upon a similarity of character
between the prognostic and its fulfilment are easy of
interpretation. There are other omens which have no
connection, natural, possible, or conceivable, with the
impending event, and of which consequently the mean-
ing is occult, known only to people of skill instructed
in their interpretation. These probably had their origin
in one or two accidental coincidences. For instance, if
the appearance of a fox is to be taken as an omen, it
will naturally be taken as a bad sign, the stinking brute
can indicate nothing favourable ; but no amount of
sagacity will teach a person that an itching in the point
of his nose prognosticates the receipt of important news,
or the cuckoo calling on the house-top the death of one
of the inmates within the year. His utmost acuteness
will fail to find in a shoulder-blade any indication of
destiny, or any prophetic meaning in the sediment of a
cup of tea. The meaning of these is a mystery to the
uninitiated, and it is easy to see how they might be
reduced to a system and lead to the wildest delusions
of fortune-telling.
Everything a Highlander of the old school set about,
from the most trifling to the most important, was under
■252 AUGURY.
the influence of omens. When he went to fish, to catch
his horse in the hill, to sell or buy at the market, to ask
a loan from his neighbour, or whatever else he left home
to do, he looked about for a sign of the success of his
undertaking, and, if the omen were unpropitious, returned
home. He knew his journey would be of no avail. He
consulted mystagogues as to his fate, and at the proper
seasons looked anxiously for the signs, of his luck".
Like the rest of mankind, he was, by means of these,
pleased or depressed in anticipation of events that were
never to occur. Hence the saying, " Take a good omen
as your omen, and you will be happy."
Probably the Greek ixavrela, prediction by an oracle,
is cognate to the Gaelic manadh, a foretoken, anything
from which a prediction can be drawn. Both among
Greeks and Celts a great number of omens were taken
from birds.
As already mentioned, it is a bad sign of a person's
luck during the day that he should rise from bed on
his left hand, wash himself with water in which eggs
have been boiled, or the cakes for his breakfast should
frequently break in the baking, or fall backwards. The
coming evil can be averted in the latter case by giving
plenty of ' butter without asking ' [Im gun iarraidK)
with the cakes. Indeed, 'butter unasked for' is of
sovereign value as an omen of luck. A cake spread
with it, given to fishermen, secures a good day's fishing.
It is reckoned good in diseases, particularly measles,
AT OUTSET OF A JOURNEY. 253
and a most excellent omen for people going on a
journey. Its not being given to Hugh of the Little
Head, on the morning of his last battle, was followed
by his losing the battle and his life.
Omens are particularly to be looked for at the outset
of a journey. If the first animal seen by the traveller
have its back towards him, or he meet a sheep or a
pig, or any unclean animal, or hear the shrill cry of the
curlew, or see a heron, or he himself fall backward,
or his walking-stick fall on the road, or he have to turn
back for anything he has forgot, he may as well stay at
home that day ; his journey will not prosper. A
serpent, a rat, or a mouse is unlucky unless killed,
but if killed becomes a good omen. If the face of the
animal be towards one, even in the case of unlucky
animals, the omen becomes less inauspicious.
It is of great importance what person is first met.
Women are unlucky, and some men are the most un-
fortunate omen that can be encountered. These are
called droch comhalaichean, i.e. bad people to meet, and
it was told of a man in Skye, that to avoid the mis-
chance of encountering one of them when setting out
on a journey, he sent one of his own family to meet
him. If he met any other he returned home. In a
village in Ayrshire there are three persons noted for
being inauspicious to meet, and fishermen (upon whom
as a class this superstition has a strong hold) are much
dissatisfied at meeting any of them. One of them is
254 AUGURY.
not so bad if he puts his hand to his face in a manner
peculiar to him. It is inauspicious to meet a person
from the same village as oneself, or a man with his
head bare, or a man going to pay rent. Old people
going to pay rent, therefore, took care to go away
unobserved. A plain-soled person is unlucky, but the
evil omen in his case is averted by rolling up the
tongue against the roof of the mouth. The Stewarts
were said to have insteps ; water flowed below their
foot; it was, therefore, fortunate to meet any of them.
All risk of a stranger proving a bad comhalaiche
is avoided by his returning a few steps with the
traveller.
A hare crossing one's path is unlucky, and old people,
when they saw one before them, made considerable de-
tours to avoid such a calamity. The disfavour with which
this harmless animal and the pig were regarded no
doubt arose from their being unclean under the Levi-
tical Law. The hare chews the cud, but divides not
the hoof ; the pig divides the hoof, but does not chew
the cud.
The fox is unlucky to meet, a superstition that pre-
vails also in East Africa. The King of Karague told
Captain Speke that " if a fox barked when he was
leading an army to battle, he would retire at once,
knowing that this prognosticated evil " {Journal, p.
241).
It is unlucky to look back after setting out. Old
UNLUCKY TO LOOK BACK. 255
people, if they had to turn to a person coming after
them, covered their face. This superstition probably
had its origin in the story of Lot's wife. Fin MacCoul,
according to a popular tale, never looked back after
setting out on a journey. When he went on the ex-
pedition that terminated in his being " in the house
of the Yellow Forehead without liberty to sit down
or power to stand up," he laid spells on his com-
panions, that no man born in Ireland should follow him.
Fergus, who was born in Scotland, followed, and Fin,
hearing footsteps behind him, called out without turn-
ing his head, in a phrase now obsolete, Co sid a propadh
mo cheaplaich ? i.e., it is supposed, " Who is that follow-
ing my footsteps?"
To be called after is a sure omen that a person will
not get what he is going in search of This belief
gave great powers of annoyance to people of a waggish
humour. When everything prognosticated success,
and the fishing boat had left the shore, or the old
man, staff in hand, had set out on his journey, some
onlooker cried out, " There is the fox before you and
after you " ; or, " Have you got the fish-hooks ? " or,
" Have you taken the Bait-stone ? " ^ Immediately a
damp was thrown on the expedition, a return home
was made for that day, and the wag might be glad if
' The Bait-stone (Clack shuill) was a stone on which to break shell-fish,
potatoes, etc., to be thrown into the water to attract fish. The broken
bait was called soil, faoire.
2SB AUGURY.
the party called after did not make him rue his
irnpertinence.
Of omens referring to other events in the life of
man than the success of particular expeditions may be
mentioned the following :
A golden plover {Feadag, Charadrius pluvialis), heard
at night, portends the near approach of death or other
evil. The cry of the bird is a melancholy wailing note.
A pied wagtail {Breac an t-sll, motaeilla alba), seen
between them and the house, was a sign of being
turned out of the house that year and ' losing the site '
(call na Idraick).
The mole burrowing below a house is a sign the
tenants will not stay long on that site.
If the cuckoo calls on the house-top, or, on the
chimney {luidheir), death will occur in the house
that year.
In spring and early summer the omens of happiness
and prosperity, or misery and adversity for the year,
are particularly looked for. It is most unfortunate if
the first foal or lamb seen that season have its tail
toward the beholder, or the first snail (some say stone-
chat) be seen on the road or on a bare stone, and a
most unmistakable sign of misfortune to hear the
cuckoo for the first time before tasting food in the
morning, ' on the first appetite ' {air a chiad lomaidh),
as it is called. In the latter case, the cuckoo is said
' to soil upon a person ' {ckac a chuthag air), and, to
AUGURY. 257
avoid such an indignity, people have been known, at
the time of the cuckoo's visit, to put a piece of bread
below their pillow to be eaten the first thing in the
morning.
Cock-crowing before midnight is an indication of
coming news. Old people said the bird had ' a tale '
to tell ; and, when they heard it, went to see if its legs
were cold or not. If cold, the tale will be one of death;
if hot, a good tale. The direction in which the bird's
head is turned indicates the direction in which the tale
is to come.
In visiting the sick, it is a sign of the termination of
the illness whether it be the right or the left foot that
touches the threshold first.
Women pretended to know when they laid their
hand on a sick person whether he would recover.
It is a good sign if the face of the chimney-crook
{aghaidh na slabhraidh) be toward the visitor, but an
evil omen if its back be toward him.
CHAPTER IX.
PREMONITIONS AND DIVINATION.
PREMONITIONS.
These are bodily sensations by which future events
may be foreknown. An itching in the nose foretells
that a letter is coming, and this in olden times was a
matter of no small consequence. There is an itching
of the mouth that indicates a kiss, and another indicat-
ing a dram. A singing or tingling in the ears denotes
death, a friend at the moment of its occurence has
expired and news of his death will be heard before
long ; an itching of the cheek or eyes, weeping ; itching
of the left hand, money ; of the right, that one is soon
to meet a stranger with whom he will shake hands ; of
the elbow, that he will soon change beds or sleep with
a stranger ; of the brow, that some person will make
you angry before long.
Hot ears denote that some person is speaking about
your character. If the heat be in the right ear, he is
supporting or praising you ; if in the left, he is speaking
258
PREMONITIONS. 359
ill of you {Chluas dheas gain thoirt a nuas ; 's a chluas
chli gam shior-chclineadli). In the latter case persons
of a vindictive nature repeated the following words :
" He who speaks of me,
If it be not to my advantage,
May he be tossed
On sharp grey knives.
May he sleep in an ant-hill.
And may it be no healthy sleep to him,
But a furious woman between him and the door.
And I between him and his property and sleep." ■*
The evil wish went on, that " an iron harrow might
scrape his guts,'' and something about " a dead old
woman " that my informant could not remember.
Trial i^Deuchainn). — The deuchainn al. diackuinn^some-
times called fridh, omen, was a ' cast ' or trial made
by lots or other appeal to chance to find out the issue
of undertakings — whether an absent friend was on his
way home or would arrive safe ; whether a sick man
will recover ; whether good or bad fortune awaits
one during the year ; what the future husband or wife
is to be ; the road stolen goods have taken, etc. This
' " A neach tha gam iomradh,
Mar h-ann air mo leas e,
Esan bhi ga iomluain
Air sgeanabh geura glasa,
Cadal an torn seangain da,
'S na na cadal fallain da;
Ach baobh eadar e 's an dorus,
'S mis' eadar e 's a chuid 's a chadal.
Cliath-chliat iarruinn a sgriobadh a mhionaich,
, . . Cailleach nharbh . . . ."
26o PREMONITIONS AND DIVINATION.
cast may be either for oneself or for another, "for him
and for his luck " {air a short 's air a shealbhaich). On
New- Year day people are more disposed to wonder
and speculate as to their fortunes during the year upon
which they have entered than to reflect upon the
occurrences of the past. Hence these ' casts ' were
most frequently made on that day. Another favourite
time was Hallowmas night. Most of them might be
made at any time of the year, and the difficulty was
not in making them but in interpreting them.
In making a ' cast ' for one's future partner, the
approved plan is for him to go at night to the top of a
cairn or other eminence where no four-footed beast can
go, and whatever animal is thence seen or met on the
way home is an omen of the future husband or wife.
It requires great shrewdness to read the omen aright.
Another way is to shut the eyes, make one's way to
the end of the house, and then, and not till then, open
the eyes and look around. Whatever is then seen is
an indication of fortune during the year. It is unlucky
to see a woman, particularly an old woman bent with
age and hobbling past. A man is lucky, particularly a
young man riding gaily on a mettlesome horse. A
man delving or turning up the earth forebodes death ;
he is making your grave, and you may as well prepare.
A duck or a hen with its head below its wing is just as
bad, and the more that are seen in that attitude the
speedier or more certain the death. A man who had
PREMONITIONS. 261
the second sight once made a ' trial ' for a sick person
at the request of an anxious friend. He went out next
morning to the end of the house in the approved
manner. He saw six ducks with their heads under
their wings, and the sick man was dead in less than
two days.
Other seers, who made ' trials ' for reward, made the
person who consulted them burn straw in front of a
sieve and then look through to see ' what they should
see.' From the objects seen the seer foretold what was
to befall.
When a trial was made to ascertain whether an
absent friend would return, if on going out to the end
of the house a man is seen coming, or a duck running
towards the seer, his safe arrival will soon be ; but if
the object be moving away, the indication is unfavour-
able. By this trial it may also be known whether the
absent one will return empty-handed or not.
Another mode of deuchainn, for the same purpose, is
to take a chance stick and measure it in thumb-breadths,
beginning at its thick or lower end, and saying, when
the thumb is laid on the stick, no or yes as the opinion
of the person consulting the oracle may incline, and
repeating yes, no, alternately till the other end is
reached. According to the position of the last thumb
will the answer be affirmative or negative or doubtful.
When a young woman wants to ascertain whether a
young man in whom she feels an interest loves her.
262 PREMONITIONS AND DIVINATION.
let her look between her fingers at him and say the
following charm. If his first motion is to raise his
right arm she is Secure of his affections.
" I have a trial upon you,
I have a looking at you,
Between the five ribs of Christ's body ;
If it be fated or permitted you
To make use of me.
Lift your right hand.
And let it not quickly down." '
In the detection of theft the diviner's utmost skill
could only determine the direction the stolen goods
had taken.
DIVINATION.
Divination (Fiosachd). — The same causes which in
other countries led to oracles, astrology, necromancy,
card-reading, and other forms of divination, in the
Scottish Highlands led to the reading of shoulder-
blades and tea-cups, palmistry, and the artless spinning
of tee-totums (dhdumari). In a simple state of society
mummeries and ceremonies, dark caves, darkened rooms,
and other aids to mystification are not required to bring
custom to the soothsayer. The desire of mankind,
particularly the young, to have pleasant anticipations
' ' ' Tha deuchainn agam dhuit,
Tha sealltuinn agam ort,
Eadar coig aisnean cleibh Chriosd ;
Ma tha 'n dan no 'n ceadachadh dhuil,
Feum dheanadh dhiom.
Tog do lamh dheas a suas,
'S na luaith i nios. "
DIVINA TION. 263
of the future, supply all deficiencies in his artifices.
One or two shrewd guesses establish a reputation, and
ordinarily there is no scepticism or inquiry as to the
sources of information. It is noticeable that the chief
articles from which the Highland soothsayer drew his
predictions, supplied him with a luxury.
Shoulder-blade Reading {Slittneineachd). — This mode
of divination was practised, like the augury of the
ancients, as a profession or trade. It consisted in
foretelling important events in the life of the owner of
a slaughtered animal from the marks on the shoulder-
blade, speal or blade-bone. Professors of this difficult
art deemed the right speal-bone of a black sheep or a
black pig the best for this purpose. This was to be
boiled thoroughly, so that the flesh might be stripped
clean from it, untouched by nail or knife or tooth.
The slightest scratch destroyed its value. The bone
being duly prepared was divided into upper and lower
parts, corresponding to the natural features of the
district in which the divination was made. Certain
marks indicated a crowd of people, met, according to
the skill of the diviner, at a funeral, fight, sale, etc.
The largest hole or indentation was the grave of the
beast's owner (t'laigh an t-sealbhaduir), and from its
position his living or dying that year was prognosti-
cated. When to the side of the bone, it presaged
death ; when in its centre, much worldly prosperity
(^guni biodh an saoghal aige).
264 PREMONITIONS AND DIVINATION.
Mac-a-Chreachaire, a native of Barra, was a cele-
brated shoulder-blade reader in his day. According
to popular tradition he was present at the festivities
held on the occasion of the castle at Bdgh Chihsamul
(the seat of the MacNeills, then chiefs of the island)
being finished. A shoulder-blade was handed to him,
and he was pressed again and again to divine from it
the fate of the castle. He was very reluctant, but at
last, on being promised that no harm would be done
him, he said the castle would become a cairn for thrushes
{earn dhruideachuii), and this would happen when the
Rattle stone {Clach-a-Ghlagain) was found, when
people worked at sea-weed in Baile na Creige (Rock-
town, a village far from the sea), and when deer swam
across from Uist, and were to be found on every dung-
hill in Barra. All this has happened, and the castle is
now in ruins. Others say the omens were the arrival
of a ship with blue wool, a blind man coming ashore
unaided, and that when a ground officer with big fingers
{inaor na miar mora) came, Barra would be measured
with an iron string. A ship laden with blue cloth was
wrecked on the island, and a blind man miraculously
escaped ; every finger of the ground officer proved to
be as big as a bottle (!), and Barra was surveyed and
sold.
When Murdoch the Short {Murchadh Gearr), heir to
the Lordship of Lochbuy in the Island of Mull, circ.
A.D. 1400, was sent in his childhood for protection
DIVINA TION. 265
from the ambitious designs of his uncle, the Laird of
Dowart, to Ireland, he remained there till eighteen
years of age. In the meantime his sister (or half-
sister) became widowed, and, dependant on the charity
and hospitality of others, wandered about the Ross of
Mull from house to house with her family. It was
always " in the prophecy " {san tairgneachcT) that
Murdoch would return. One evening, in a house to
which his sister came, a wedder sheep was killed.
After the meal was over, her oldest boy asked the
farmer for the shoulder-blade. He examined it in-
tently for some time in silence, and then, exclaiming
that Murdoch was on the soil of Mull {air grunnd
Mhuile), rushed out of the house and made for Loch-
buy, to find his uncle in possession of his rightful
inheritance.
On the night of the massacre of Glencoe, a party of
the ill-fated clansmen were poring over the shoulder-
blade of an animal slain for the hospitable entertain-
ment of the soldiers. One of them said, " There is a
shedding of blood in the glen " {tJta dortadh fuil sa
ghleann). Another said there was only the stream at
the end of the house between them and it. The whole
party rushed to the door, and were among the few that
escaped the butchery of that dreadful night.
It is a common story that a shoulder-blade seer
once saved the lives of a company, of whom he him-
self was one, who had ' lifted ' a cattle spoil {preach).
266 PREMONITIONS AND DIVINATION.
by divining that there was only the stream at the
end of the house between them and their pursuers.
A shoulder-blade sage in Tiree sat down to a sub-
stantial feast, to which he had been specially invited,
that he might divine whether a certain friend was on
his way home or not. He examined the shoulder-bone
of the wedder killed on the occasion critically, unable
to make up his mind. " Perhaps," he said, " he will
come, perhaps he will not." A boy, who had hid
himself on the top of a bed in the room, that he might
see the fun, could not help exclaiming, " They cannot
find you untrue." The bed broke, and the diviner and
his companions, thinking the voice came from the skies,
fled. When the boy recovered he got the dinner all to
himself
Palmistry {Dearnadaireachd). — Of this mode of divi-
nation, as practised in the Highlands, nothing seems
now to be known beyond the name. Probably from
the first the knowledge of it was confined to gipsies
and such like stray characters.
Divination by Tea, or Cup-reading {Leughadh chu-
paichean). — When tea was a luxury, dear and difficult to
get, the ' spacing ' of fortunes from tea-cups was in
great repute. Even yet young women resort in num-
bers to fortune-tellers of the class, who for the reward
of the tea spell out to them most excellent matches.
After drinking the tea, the person for whom the cup
is to be read, turning the cup deiseal, or with the
DIVINA TION. 267
right-hand turn, is to make a small drop, left in it,
wash its sides all round, and then pour it out. The
fortune is then read from the arrangement of the
sediments or tea-leaves left in the cup. A large
quantity of black tea grounds {smurack dii) denotes
substance and worldly gear. The person consulting
the oracle is a stray leaf standing to the one side of it.
If the face of the leaf is towards the grounds, that
person is to come to a great fortune ; if very ijositively
its back, then farewell even to the hope " that keeps
alive despair." A small speck by itself is a letter, and
other specks are envious people struggling to get to
the top, followers, etc. Good diviners can even tell to
their youthful and confiding friends when the letter is
likely to arrive, what trade their admirer follows, the
colour of his hair, etc.
CHAPTER X.
DREAMS AND PROPHECIES.
Dreams {Bruadar) have everywhere been laid hold of
by superstition as indications of what is passing at a
distance or of what is to occur, and, considering the
vast numbers of dreams there are, it would be matter
of surprise, if a sufficient number did not prove so like
some remote or subsequent event, interesting to the
dreamer, as to keep the belief alive. On a low calcu-
lation, a fourth of the population dream every night,
and in the course of a year, the number of dreams in a
district must be incredible. They are generally about
things that have been, or are, causes of anxiety, or
otherwise occupied men's waking thoughts. " A dream
cometh through the multitude of business," Solomon
says, and a Gaelic proverb says with equal truth " An
old wife's dream is according to her inclination "
{Aisling caillich mas a durachd). Its character can
sometimes be traced directly to the health or position
of the body, but in other cases, it seems to depend
268
DREAMS AND PROPHECIES. 269
on the uncontrolled association of ideas. Out of the
numberless phantasies that arise there must surely be
many that the imagination can without violence convert
into forebodings and premonitions.
To dream of raw meat indicates impending trouble ;
eggs mean gossip and scandal ; herring, snow ; meal,
earth ; a grey horse, the sea. To dream of women is
unlucky ; and of the dead, that they are not at rest.
In the Hebrides, a horse is supposed to have reference
to the Clan Mac Leod. The surname of horses is
Mac Leod, as the Coll bard said to the Skye bard :
" Often rode I with my bridle,
The race you and your wife belong to."'
In some districts horses meant the Macgnanean, and a
white horse, a letter.
Prophecies (Fdisneachd). — In Argyllshire and Perth-
shire, the celebrated Thomas the Rhymer {Tbmas
Reuvair, T. Reini) is as well known as in the Lowlands
of Scotland. He is commonly called " the son of the
dead woman " {inac na mna mairbk), but the accounts
vary as to the cause of this name. One account says,
he was, like Julius Caesar, taken out through his
mother's side, immediately after her death ; another,
that the cry of the child was heard in the mother's
tomb after her burial, and on the grave being opened
Thomas was found in the coffin. A third account
'"Is trie a mharcaich mi le 'm shrein
An dream gam bheil the fhein 's do bhean."
270 DREAMS AND PROPHECIES.
says, that a woman, whose husband had been cut in
four pieces, engaged a tailor, at the price of the sur-
render of her person, to sew the pieces together again.
He did so in two hours time. Some time after the
woman died and was buried. Subsequently, she met
the tailor at night, and leading him to her tomb, the
child was found there. Both the Highland and Low-
land accounts agree that Thomas's gift of prophecy
was given him by a Fairy sweetheart, that he is at
present among the Fairies, and will yet come back.
The Highland tradition is, that Thomas is in
Dunbuck hill {Dim buic) near Dunbarton. The last
person that entered that hill found him resting on his
elbow, with his hand below his head. He asked, " Is
it time ? " and the man fled. In the outer Hebrides he
is said to be in Tom-na-heurich hill,^ near Inverness.
Hence MacCodrum, the Uist bard, says :
" When the hosts of Tomnaheurich come,
Who should rise first but Thomas ?"^
He attends every market on the look-out for suitable
' Tom-na-h-iubhraich, the Boat Mound, probably derives its name from
its resemblance to a boat, bottom upwards. Another popular account
makes it the abode of the Feinne, or Fin Mac Coul and his men. There is
a huge chain suspended from the roof, and if any mortal has the courage to
strike it three times with his fist, the heroes will rise again. A person
struck it twice, and was so terrified by the howling of the big dogs {donnal
na con mhra) that he fled. A voice called' after him, " Wretched mischief-
making man, that worse hast left than found" (Dhuine dhon a dkblaick, 's
mtosa dKfhh.g na fhuair).
^" Dar thigedh sluagh Tom na h-iubhraich,
Co dh' eireadh air tus ach Timas ? "
DREAMS AND PROPHECIES. 271
horses, as the Fairies in the north of Ireland attend to
steal Hnen and other goods, exposed for sale. It is
only horses with certain characteristics that he will
take. At present he wants but two, some say only
one, a yellow foal with a white forehead {searrach bldr
buidhe). The other is to be a white horse that has got
" three March, three May, and three August months
of its mother's milk " {trl Mairt, tt't Maigh, agus trl
luchara 'bhainne inhathar) ; and in Mull they say, one
of the horses is to be from the meadow of Kengharair
in that island. When his complement is made up he
will become visible, and a great battle will be fought
on the Clyde.
"When Thomas comes with his horses,
The day of spoils will be on the Clyde,
Nine thousand good men will be slain,
And a new king will be set on the throne.'"
You may walk across the Clyde, the prophecy goes
on to relate, on men's bodies, and the miller of Partick
Mill {Muilionn Phearaig), who is to be a man with seven
fingers, will grind for two hours with blood instead of
water. After that, sixteen ladies will follow after one
lame tailor,^ a prophecy copied from Isaiah iv. i. A
stone in the Clyde was pointed out as one, on which a
" ^Nuair thig Tomas le chuid each,
Bi latha nan creach air Cluaidh,
Millear naoi mile fear maith,
'S theid righ 6g air a chrun."
^" Bi sia baintighearnun diag as deigh an aon tailleir chrubaich."
272 DREAMS AND PROPHECIES.
bird {bigein) would perch and drink its full of blood,
without bending its head, but the River Trustees have
blasted it out of the way that the prophecy may not
come true. The same prophecy, with slight variation,
has been transferred to Blair Athole in Perthshire.
" When the white cows come to Blair, the wheel of
Blair Mill will turn round seven times with people's
blood."' The writer was told that the Duke of Athole
brought white cattle to Blair more than fifteen years
ago, but nothing extraordinary happened.
Other prophecies, ascribed to the Rhymer, are, " the
sheep's skull will make the plough useless," " the south
sea will come upon the north sea," and " Scotland will
be in white bands, and a lump of gold will be at the
bottom of every glen."^ The former has received its
fulfilment in the desolation caused by the extension of
sheep farms, the second in the making of the Caledonian
canal, and the last in the increase of highroads and
houses.
In the North Highlands, prophecies of this kind are
ascribed to Coineach Odhar {i.e. Dun Kenneth), a native
of Ross-shire, whose name is hardly known in Argyll-
shire. He acquired his prophetic gift from the
^"Meair thig an cro ban do Bhlar, cuirear seachd cuir de chuibhle
mhuilinn Bhiair le fuil sluaigh."
^" Cuiridh claigionn na caorach an crann s fheum, no an crann araidh air
an fharadh ;
Thig a mhuir deas air a mhuir tuath ;
Bi Albainn na criosun geala,
'S meall 6ir ann am bun gach glinne. ''
DREAMS AND PROPHECIES. 373
possession of a stone, which he found in a raven's nest.
He first found a raven's nest with eggs in it. These he
took home and boiled. He then took them back to the
nest, with a view to finding out how long the bird would
sit before it despaired of hatching them. He found a
stone in the nest before him, and its possession was
the secret of his oracular gifts. When this became
known an attempt was made to take the stone from
him, but he threw it out in a loch, where it still lies.
He prophesied that " the raven will drink its fill of
men's blood from off the ground, on the top of the
High Stone in Uig,"^ a place in Skye. The High
Stone is on a mountain's brow, and it is ominous of the
fulfilment of the prophecy, that it has fallen on its side.
Of the Well of Ta, at Cill-a-cliro in Strath, in the same
island, he said :
" Thou well of Ta, and well of Ta,
Well where battle shall be fought.
And the bones of growing men,
Will strew the white beach of Laoras ;
And Lachlan of the three Lachlans be slain
Early, early,
At the well of Ta." 2
^"Olaidh am fitheach a shath, bhar an lair, air muUach clach ard an
Uig."
2" Tobar Tath sin, 's lobar Tath,
Tobar aig an cuirear blar,
'S bi cnaimhean nam fear fas
Air traigh bhan Laorais
'S marbhar Lachunn nan tri Lachunn
Gu moch, moch, aig tobar Tath.
Al. Torcuil nan tri Torcuil."
S
274 DREAMS AND PROPHECIES.
In Harris a cock will crow on the very day
on which it is hatched, and a white calf, without a
single black hair, will be born, both which remarkable
events have, it is said, occurred. A certain large stone
will roll up the hill, turning over three times, and the
marks of it having done so, and the proof of the
prophecy, are still to be seen. On the top of a high
stone in Scaristavor parks,^ the raven will drink its fill
of men's blood, and the tide of battle will be turned
back by Norman of the three Normans {Tormod nan
trl Tormoidean) at the Steps of Tarbert {Cathaichean
an Tairbearf)?'
The Lady of Lawers. — Of similar fame for her pro-
phetic gifts was the Lady of Lawers {Bantighearna
Lathuir), one of the Breadalbane family, married to
Campbell of Lawers. Her prophecies relate to the
house and lands of Breadalbane, and are written, it is
believed, in a book shaped like a barrel, and secured
with twelve iron hoops or clasps in the charter room of
^This stone is about ten ft. high, and is one of the three fragments into
which a larger stone, used by an old woman of former days as a hammer to
knock limpets off the rocks (ird bhairneach), was broken. Of the other
two, one is in Uigh an du tuath, and one in Tarnsa Islet. At a spot
from which these three fragments can be seen, there is hidden an urn of
silver and an urn of gold {croggan bir 'j cr. airgid). It is easy to find a
place whence one can see two, but when about to see the third, one of the
first two disappears. Five or six yards make all the difference. A herds-
man once found the spot, but when digging for the treasure he happened
to see a heifer that had fallen on its back in a stream. He ran to its rescue,
and never could find the place again.
"^Chth, prob. a step path in a rock.
DREAMS AND PROPHECIES. 275
Taymouth Castle. This book is called ' The Red
Book of Balloch.'
An old white horse will yet take the lineal heirs
of Taymouth (or, according to another version, the
last Breadalbane Campbells) across Tyndrum Cairn.
When she said this there were thirty sons in the
family, but soon after twenty-five of them were slain
in the battle at Sron-a-chlachair near Killin {Cill-
Fhinn).
If the top stone were ever put on Lawers Church no
word uttered by her would ever come true, and when
the red cairn on Ben Lawers fell the church would
split. In the same year that the cairn, built by the
sappers and miners on Ben Lawers, fell, the Disruption
in the Church of Scotland took place.
" A mill will be on every streamlet,
A plough in every boy's hand.
The two sides of Loch Tay in kail gardens ;
The sheep's skull will make the plough useless.
And the goose's feathers drive their memories from men."'
This was to happen in the time of " John of the three
Johns, the worst John that ever was, and there will be
no good till Duncan comes."
A stone called the ' Boar Stone ' {Clach an Tuirc),
'" Bi muilionn air gach sruthan,
Crann an laimh gach giuUain,
Da thaobh Loch Tatha na gh^racha-cail,
Cuiridh claigionn na caorach an crann o fheum,
'S cuiridh ite geoidh an cuimhn' a duine."
276 DREAMS AND PROPHECIES.
a boulder of some two or three hundred tons in a
meadow near Loch Tay, will topple over when a
strange heir comes to Taymouth, and the house will be
at its height of honour when the face of a certain rock
is concealed by wood.
CHAPTER XI.
IMPRECATIONS, SPELLS, AND THE BLACK ART.
IMPRECATION {Guidhe).
The imprecations, which form so important a part of
the vocabulary of thoughtless and profane swearing, are
in Gaelic corruptions of English expressions. Thus,
one of the commonest — diabhul Mac-eadhar is a
corruption of ' devil may care,' and though no language
has a monopoly of oaths and curses, and English is not
always to blame, it is some satisfaction that needless
profanity is not entirely of native growth. *
Most Gaelic imprecations are mere exclamations,
condemnatory not so much of the person himself as of
what he is saying or doing. Of these the following are
of common use :
A bad meeting to you ! {Droch cbmh V ort .').
A bad growth to you ! {Drochfis ort !).
Bad understanding to you ! {Droch ciall ort.').
Bad accident to you ! {Droch sgiorram ort /).
Bad .' to you ! {Gum bu droch druileach !
or druthalach dhuit !).
277
278 IMPRECATIONS, SPELLS, AND BLACK ART.
Black water upon you ! {Burn du ort !)^
A down mouth be yours ! {Beul slos ort /).^
A wry mouth be yours ! {^Beul seachad ort!).
Go to your grandfather's house ! ( Tigh do sheamar dhuit !).
The mischief be in your side ! {An dunaigh ad chliathaich .').
The burning of your heart to you ! {Losgadh do chridhe ort!).
Little increase to you ! (Beagan piseaclt ort!).
Little prosperity to you! {Beagan hidh ort!).
The spell of your death-stroke be yours ! {Sian do ghonaidh ort!).
Death without a priest to you ! {Bds gun sagart ort!).
Wind without rising be yours ! {Gaoth gun direadh ort!), i.e. a
wind that will throw you on your beam-ends, and not allow
you to right.
Your black certain death-stroke to you ! {Sclr du do ghonaidh
ort!).
The place of the dead be yours ! {Marasg, i.e. marbh-thasg,
ort!).
The number of Friday be yours ! " The curse of Friday be
yours ! " " The end of the seven Saturdays to you ! "
May you be late ! {Gu ma h-anamocli dliuit !).
The direction in which you turn the back of your head, may
you never turn your face ! {An 'toabh bheir thusa ciil do
chijin, gar an d thig an t-aon latha blieir tliu f aghaidh !),
etc., etc.
When a curse proceeds from rage or malevolence, it
is at the same time a confession of impotence. The
'Does this refer to excommunication? A candle was then extinguished
in water.
^ Perhaps this means burial with the face downwards. The mother of an
illegitimate child, which died in infancy, and the paternity of which was
denied, declared if she had known that would be the case, she would have
buried the child with its face downward. This was said to be in Tiree,
but all the writer's inquiries failed to find any one who had ever heard of
such a thing being done. It is a saying " a down mouth to women if they
are not to be found everywhere" (Beul sios air na mnat/ian, mar faighear
^ s gacJi hit iad).
IMPRECA TIONS. 279
party uttering it is unable at the moment to indulge
his rancour in any other way. If he had the power
he would bring all the woes he threatens or impre-
cates there and then on his enemy's devoted head.
Patience is no element of wrath and rarely enters
the house of malevolence, and if the man who curses
his enemy had the artillery of heaven at command,
he would at that moment devote his enemy to
unspeakable misery. This impotence of rage is the
reason why curses are so frequently ascribed to angry
old women.
Those who have seen old women, of the Madge
Wildfire school, cursing and banning, say their manner
is well calculated to inspire terror. Some fifteen or
twenty years ago, a party of tinkers quarrelled and
fought, first among themselves, and then with some
Tiree villagers. In the excitement a tinker wife threw
off her cap and allowed her hair to fall over her
shoulders in wild disorder. She then bared her knees,
and falling on them to the ground, in a praying
attitude, poured forth a torrent of wishes that struck
awe into all who heard her. She imprecated " Drown-
ing by sea and conflagration by land ; may you never
see a son to follow your body to the graveyard, or a
daughter to mourn your death. I have made my wish
before this, and I will make it now, and there was not
yet a day I did not see my wish fulfilled," etc., etc.
" Once," says one who is now an old man, " when a boy
28o IMPRECATIONS, SPELLS, AND BLACK ART.
I roused the anger of an old woman by calling her
names. She went on her knees and cursed me, and I
thought I was going to die suddenly every day for a
week after.''
The curse causeless will not come, but a curse
deserved is the foreshadowing of the ultimate issue of
events. The curse of the oppressed, who have no man
to deliver them, is at times but the presage of the
retribution which the operation of the laws of the
moral world will some day bring about. Hence we
find such expressions as, " She cursed him and obtained
her wish." The curse came upon the oppressor, not
because of the malediction, but because what was asked
for was part of the natural sequence of events in the
moral government of the world. For this reason, the
curse of the poor is undesirable. There is something
wrong in the relation between superior and inferior
when it is uttered ; authority has been misused, and
wisdom and patience have been awanting, selfishness
has overstepped its due limit, and the just influence of
the superior has degenerated into wantonness of power.
In the expatriations from the Highlands, there was
much in this respect to be reprobated, and it is most
creditable to Highlanders, and is greatly to be ascribed
to the influence of religion over them, that in the songs
made at the time of the Clearances, there are no curses
against the oppressor.
A common expression in the imprecations used by
IMPRECA riONS. 28 1
old women was, " May no benefit be in your cheese,
and no cheese in your milk."^
There is said to be a curse on an estate in Argyll-
shire, that a lineal descendant will never succeed to it,
and on one of the principal castles in Perthshire, that no
legitimate heir {oighre dligheacJt) will own it till the third
generation {^gus an treasa linn). This latter curse was
caused by the haughtiness of an old woman, a former
mistress of the castle, who lived entirely on marrow.
All evil wishes can be counteracted by the bystander
saying, after each curse, " The fruit of your wish be on
your own body " ( Toradh do ghuidhe far, etc.). On the
occasion above referred to, of the banning by the
tinker wife, her frightful tirade became ludicrous from
the earnestness with which this was done by one of the
native women who was listening.
SPELLS {Geasan no Geasaibh).
A person under spells is believed to become
powerless over his own volition, is alive and awake,
but moves and acts as if asleep. He is like St.
John's father, not able or not allowed to speak. He
is compelled to go to certain places at certain hours
or seasons, is sent wandering or is driven from his
kindred and changed to other shapes.
In nursery and winter evening tales (sgialachdun
'us ur-sgeulun) the machinery of spells is largely
^"Nach faicear toradh ad im, no im ann ad bhainne."
282 IMPRECATIONS, SPELLS, AND BLACK ART.
made use of. In the former class of tales they
are usually imposed on king's children by an old
woman dwelling near the palace, called " Trouble-
the-house" {Eachrais tirlair, lit. confusion of the
floor). Her house is the favourite place for the
king's children to meet their lovers. She has a
divining rod {slacan driiidheachcT), by a blow from
which she can convert people into rocks, seals, swans,
wolves, etc., and this shape they must keep till they
are freed by the same rod. Nothing else can deliver
them from the spell.
The story usually runs that the king is married a
second time. His daughter by the first marriage
is very handsome, and has a smooth comb {cir mhin)
which makes her hair, when combed by it, shed gold
and precious gems. The daughters by the second
marriage are ugly and ill-natured. When they comb
their hair there is a shower of fleas and frogs. Their
mother bribes Trouble-the-house to lay spells on the
daughter of the first marriage. Unless the princess
enters the house the old woman is powerless to do
this. One day the beautiful princess passes near
the house, and is kindly and civilly asked to enter.
"Come you in," says the designing hag, " often did
I lick the platters and pick the bones in your father's
house." ' Misled by this artful talk, the princess
' " Is trie a bha mise 'g imlich na mias agiis a' lomadh nan cnamh an
tigh t' athar."
SPELLS. 283
enters, is struck with the magic rod, and converted
into a swan.
It is a popular saying that seals and swans are
" king's children under enchantments " {clann sigh fo
gheasaibh). On lonely mountain meres, where the
presence of man is seldom seen, swans have been
observed putting off their coverings (cochult) and
assuming their proper shape of beautiful princesses
in their endeavours to free themselves from the
spells. This, however, is impossible till the magician,
who imposed them, takes them away, and the
princesses are obliged to resume their coverings
again.
The expressive countenance and great intelligence
of the seal, the readiness with which it can be
domesticated, and the attachment which, as a pet,
it shows to man, have not unnaturally led to stories
of its being a form assumed by, or assigned to, some
higher intelligence from choice or by compulsion.
In Caithness, seals are deemed to be the fallen
angels, and the Celtic belief that they are " king's
children under spells " is paralleled in the Shetland
tales of the Norway Finns. These are persons, a
native of these northern islands writes (in a private
letter), who come across from Norway to Shetland in
the shape of large seals. A Shetlander on his way
to the fishing, early in the morning, came across a
large seal lying asleep on a rock. Creeping quietly
284 IMPRECATIONS, SPELLS, AND BLACK ART.
up he managed to stab it with his knife. The
animal was only slightly wounded and floundered
into the water, taking the knife along with it.
Sometime afterwards the fisherman went, with others,
to Norway to buy wood. In the first house he
entered he saw his own big knife stuck up under
a beam. He gave himself up for lost, but the
Norwegian took down the knife and gave it back
to him, telling him never again to disturb a poor
sea-animal taking its rest.
There is a sept in North Uist known as " the
MacCodrums of the seals " {Clann 'ic Codrum nan
rojn), from being said to be descendants of these
enchanted seals. The progenitor of the family, being
down about the shore, saw the seals putting off
their coverings and washing themselves. He fled
home with one of the skins and hid it above the
lintel of the door, ' arabocan ' as it is called in that
part of the country. The owner of the covering
followed him. He clad her with human garments,
married her, and had a family by her. She managed
ultimately to regain possession of her lost covering
and disappeared.
West of Uist there is a rock called Connsmun,
to which the neighbouring islanders are in the habit
of going yearly to kill seals. On one of these
expeditions a young man, named Egan, son of
Egan, killed a large seal in the usual manner by a
Spells. 285
knock on the head, and put a withe through its
paw to secure it, while he himself went to attend to
other matters. When he came back, however, the
seal was gone. Sometime after he was driven away
in a storm, and landed in a district he did not
recognize. He made his way to one of the houses,
and was very hospitably entertained. His host, who
had been surveying him intently, when the meal was
over asked his name. He told, and his host said,
" Egan, son of Egan, though I have given you meat,
and cheese, and eggs, upon your two hands be it,
Egan, son of Egan, you put the withe through my
fist." '
THE BLACK ART.
Nothing was known in the Highlands of the dark
science beyond what is conveyed in the name given to
it, ' Satan's black school ' {Sgoil du Shatain), and a few
anecdotes of its more illustrious students. All accounts
agree that Michael Scott was an advanced scholar.
He, by his skill in it, made a brazen man, whom he
compelled to do all his work for him. By means of
him he brought the Flanders Moss {Mkbinteack Fhlans-
rach), in the Carse of Stirling, across from the conti-
nent on bearers (Junnun). The moss is twenty-three
miles long, and lies north of Stirling, where, unfortu-
nately, the bearers broke. The Mull doctor {an t-ollainh
1 " Ged thug mi biadh 'us caise 's uibhean duit, air do dha laimh,
logain 'ic logain, chuir thu 'n gad roi mo dhirn."
286 IMPRECATIONS, SPELLS, AND BLACK ART.
MuileacJi)^ and the I slay doctor {an t-ollamh Ileack)
also attended the school, and adventures are assigned
to them as to the other scholars.
Cameron of Locheil {Mac DhouilL dui, the son of
Black Donald, is the Highland patronymic of the chiefs
of this house), Macdonald of Keppoch {Mac-ic-Rao'uill),
and Mackenzie of Brahan were at the school together,
and when their education was finished the devil was to
get as his fee whoever of them was hindmost. The
three young men made a plan to chase each other
round and round in a circle so that none of them should
be hindmost. At last the devil was for clutching some
one, but the young man pointed to his shadow which
was behind. The devil in his hurry caught at it, and
the young man never had a shadow from that day.
Locheil hired a servant maid to attend to a set of
valuable china dishes of which he was the possessor.
Her post was onerous, and she had another waiting-
maid under her. Her life was to be the forfeit of any
of the dishes being broken. One night when ascending
the stairs with the dishes on a tray, the under-servant
leading the way with a light, she noticed that the sugar
bowl was in two and began to weep. A gentleman,
whom she had not till then observed, was walking back-
wards and forwards on the stair-head. He asked her
' The Mull doctor passed a house from which loud sounds of talking
proceeded. He remarked that in that house were either twenty men or
three women.
THE BLACK ART. 287
why she wept, and she told. He asked what .she would
give to have the bowl made whole as it was before ?
Would she give herself? She thoughtlessly said she
would give anything. The bargain was struck,
and on drying her tears and looking up the maid
found the bowl whole. She told all this to her
master, and when the devil came that same night
to claim her, Locheil gave his former teacher a
hospitable reception. When it waxed late, the devil,
afraid of the cock-crowing, was preparing to go
away. Cameron coaxed him to remain till the inch
still remaining of the candle on the table should burn
down. Whenever he gave his consent Cameron blew
out the candle and gave it to the servant, telling her
her life depended on its safe custody. In this manner
the devil was cheated by his own scholar.
A drover bought a flock of goats from Macdonald
of Keppoch, who himself accompanied the drove to
Locheil-side. Here, in crossing a ford, the goats were
taken away by the stream, and went past the drover as
red stalks of fern {nan cuiseagun ruadha rainick), all
except one dun hornless goat {gobhar nihaol odhar).
The drover returned in search of Macdonalld and
found him lying on the heather, seemingly asleep. He
pulled his hand to awaken him, but the hand came
away with him. In the end, however, the hand was
put right, and the goats were restored to the astonished
drover.
288 IMPRECATIONS, SPELLS, AND BLACK ART.
Another time Keppoch and his dairy-maid had a
trial of skill in sorcery. While she was milking a cow
in the cattle-fold, Macdonald, who was looking on, by
his charms prevented the cow from yielding her milk.
The dairy-maid removed to the other side of the cow
and defeated his conjurations. He then removed the
hoop on the milk-pail. This also she counteracted.
Macdonald is said to have put a stop in his own
country to the women winding black thread at night,
but how or why does not appear.
The mighty magician, Michael Scott, had a narrow
escape from becoming the prey of the arch-fiend. On
his death-bed he told his friends to place his body on
a hillock. Three ravens and three doves would be seen
flying towards it ; if the ravens were first the body was
to be burned, but if the doves were first it was to
receive Christian burial. The ravens were foremost, but
in their hurry flew beyond their mark. So the devil,
who had long been preparing a bed for Michael, was
disappointed.
CHAPTER XII.
THE DEVIL.
Superstition, in assigning to the devil a bodily
shape and presence, endeavoured to make him horrible,
and instead made him ridiculous. For this no doubt
the monkish ceremonies of the middle ages are, as is
commonly alleged, much to blame. The fiend was
introduced into shows and dramatic representations
with horns, tail, and the hoof of one of the lower
animals ; the representation was seized upon by the
popular fancy, and exaggerated till it became a carica-
ture. The human mind takes pleasure in mixing the
ludicrous with the terrible, and in seeing that of which
it is afraid made contemptible. There is, as is well
known, but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous,
and, in being reduced to a bug-bear, the impersonation
of evil has only come under the operation of a common
law. One bad effect to be traced to the travesty is,
that men's attention is diverted from the power of
evil as the spirit that now worketh strife, lying.
290 THE DEVIL.
dishonesty, and the countless forms of vice, and the
foul fiend is become a sort of goblin, to frighten
children and lonely travellers.
In Gaelic the exaggeration is not carried to the
same lengths as in English. There is nothing said
about the fiend's having horns or tail. He has made
his appearance in shape of a he-goat, but his horns
have not attracted so much attention, or inspired such
terror, as his voice, which bears a horrible resemblance
to the bleating of a goat. A native of the Island of
Coll is said to have got a good view of him in a hollow,
and was positive that he was crop-eared {corc-
chluasacfi)} He has often a chain clanking after
him. In Celtic, as in German superstition, he has
usually a horse's hoof, but also sometimes a pi^s foot.
This latter peculiarity, which evidently had its origin in
the incident of the Gadarean swine, and in the pig
being unclean under the ceremonial law, explains the
cloven hoof always ascribed to him in English popular
tales. In Scripture, the goat, as pointed out by Sir
Thomas More, formed the sin offering, and is an
emblem of bad men. The reason why a horse's hoof
has been assigned to him is not so apparent. In the
Book of Job, Satan is described as " going to and fro
in the earth" ; and the red horses, speckled and white,
which the prophet Zechariah (i. 8) saw among the
'This was Nial na Buaile, who lived in a house alone several miles from
any other house. The hollow is called Sloc-an-tciilisg.
THE DEVIL. 291
myrtle trees, were explained to him to be those whom
" the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the
earth." The similarity of description may be casual,
but it is on grounds, equally incidental and slight, that
many of the inferences of superstition are based.
In addition to his Scripture names, the arch-fiend is
known in Gaelic by the following titles :
The worthless one {am fear naqh fhiacK).
The one whom I will not mention (am fear nach abair mi).
Yon one {am fear ud).
The one big one {an aonfhear mor).
The one from the abyss {an t-aibhisteir') from aibheis, an abyss, a
depth.
The mean mischievous one {an Rosad).
The big sorrow {an dblas mbr).
The son of cursing {Mac-mollachd).
The big grizzled one {an Riabhach tnor).
The bad one {an donas).
The bad spirit {ain-spiorad, droch-spiorad).
Black Donald {Dbinhnull Du).
In the North Highlands he is also known as Bidein,
Dithean, Bradaidh. It is said that Connan was a name
given to him, and that aisling connain, a libidinous
dream, means literally ' a devil's dream.' The name
must have been very local. There is a fable about
Connan and his twelve sons pulling a plant in the peat
moss, in which the name denoted the wren, and there
was a St. Connan, whose memory is preserved in
Cill-Chonnain, a burying-ground in Rannoch, and
Feill-Connain, the autumn market at Dalmally in
Glenorchy.
392 THE DEVIL.
The occasions on which the devil has appeared in a
bodily shape, have been at meetings of witches ; at
card-playing, which is the reading of his books ; when
he comes to claim his prey ; and when summoned by
masons or magicians. He is apt to appear to persons
ready to abandon their integrity, and to haunt premises
which are soon to be the scene of signal calamities. He
sometimes comes in unaccountable shapes and in lonely
places for no conceivable purpose but to frighten people.
The following tales will illustrate the -character of
his appearances and the notions popularly entertained
regarding him.
CARD-PLAYING.
A party of young people were playing cards ; a
stranger joined them and took a hand. A card fell
below the table, and the youth, who stooped to lift it,
observed the stranger to have a horse's hoof The devil,
on being thus detected, went up the chimney in smoke.
This story is universal over the Highlands. Cards
are notoriously known as the devil's books. When
boys play them, the fiend has been known to come
down the chimney feet foremost, the horse's or pig's
foot appearing first. When going away, he disappears
in smoke, and neighs horribly in the chimney.
RED BOOK OF APPIN.
This celebrated book contained charms for the cure
of cattle, and was so powerful that its owner had to
RED BOOK OF APPIN. 293
place an iron hoop about his head every time he opened
it. All accounts agree that it was got from the devil,
but they differ as to how this was done. Very likely
the book was a treatise on the treatment and diseases
of cattle, and the origin of the stories of its magic virtue
lay in the fact that the Stewarts, who owned it, had a
magnificent fold of Highland cattle.
The first, who got the book, rode an entire horse (an
animal that no evil power can touch) to a meeting of
witches. The devil wrote in a red book the names of
the assembled company. The man, instead of letting
the devil write his name, asked to be allowed to do so
himself On getting the book for that purpose he
made off with it.
By another account (and the person from whom it
was heard was positive as to its being the only correct
account) it was got by a young lad under the following
circumstances. The youth was apprenticed to the
miller at Bearachan on Lochawe-side. His master was
unkind, and made him work more than he was fit for.
One night he was up late finishing a piece of work.
About midnight a gentleman, whom he did not recog-
nize, entered the mill and accosted him kindly. Turn-
ing the conversation that ensued on the harsh conduct
of the miller, the stranger promised to better the un-
happy prentice's condition if they met at the Crooked
Pool {Cama-linn) in the Middle Mountain i^Monadh
Meadhonach) on a certain night. An assignation to
294 THE DEVIL.
that effect was made, but after the strange gentleman
went away the lad got frightened, and next day told
about the visitor he had. A conclave of sixteen
ministers was called, and the matter was deliberated
upon. As the youth had given his promise it was
deemed necessary he should keep it, but he was advised
to take a wand with him and at the place appointed
trace a circle with it round himself, out of which he was
not to move whatever temptation or terrors the stranger
might bring to bear upon him. A committee of the
clergy went to watch on a neighbouring eminence the
result of the interview. The strange gentleman came
at the appointed hour, and before giving the money
promised, civilly asked the lad to write his name in a
book. For this purpose the book was not handed but
thrown to the youth, and he, on getting it into his
possession, refused to give it up again. The strange
gentleman now showed himself in his true colours.
Finding remonstrances and coaxing of no avail to get
the book or the lad out of the circle he got wild, and
tried the effects of terror. First he became a grizzled
greyhound {inial-chu riabhach), and came wildly dash-
ing against the circle ; then a roarjng bull ; then a flock
of crows {sgaoth rbcais) sweeping above the youth, so
near that the wind caused by their wings would have
carried him out of the circle if he had not clung to the
heather. When cock-crowing time came the devil
abandoned his attempts and disappeared. The book
RED BOOK OF APPIN. 295
became the Red Book of Appin, and was last in
possession of the Stewarts of Invernahyle {Inbher-na
h-aoile).
COMING FOR THE DYING.
A native of the neighbourhood of Oban, on his way-
home from Loch Awe-side, after crossing the hills and
coming in above Kilmore, was joined by three strangers.
He spoke to them, but received no answer. At a small
public-house on the roadside he asked them in for a
refreshment. They then told him they had business to
attend to, and that after entering the house he was not
on any account to come out or attempt to go home
that night. On parting, the strangers turned off the
high road by a private road leading to a neighbouring
gentleman's house. The night proved unusually stormy,
and the man did not move from the inn till morning.
He then heard that the gentleman, towards whose house
the three mysterious strangers had gone, had died the
previous evening just about the time they would have
arrived there. No person in the house or neighbour-
hood saw anything of them.
It has been already mentioned that the devil, or
his emissaries, in the shape of three ravens, waited to
catch the soul of Michael Scott as soon as it left the
body. A freebooter of former days, who made a
house underground for his wife in Loch Con, in Lower
Rannoch {Bun Raineach), that he and his men might
swear he had no wife above ground, and then married
296 THE DEVIL.
another, was at his death carried away by twelve
ravens.
MAKING THE DEVIL YOUR SLAVE.
Those who had the courage to perform the awful
taghairm} called up the devil to grant any worldly wish
they might prefer ; the disciples of the black art made
him their obedient servant. Michael Scott, whose
reputation as a magician is as great in the Highlands
as in the Lowlands, made him his slave. He could
call him up at any time.
In Michael's time the people of Scotland were much
confused as to the day on which Shrovetide was to be
kept. One year it was early and another it was late,
and they had to send every year to Rome to ascertain
the time {dK fhaotainn fios na h-Inid'). It was deter-
mined to send Michael Scott to get " word without a
second telling " {fios gun ath-fhios). Michael called up
the devil, converted him into a black ambling horse
{falaire dhu), and rode away on the journey. The
devil was reluctant to go on such an expedition, and
was tired by the long distance. He asked Michael
what the women in Scotland said when they put their
children to sleep or ' raked ' the fire {smdladh an teini)
for the night. He wanted the other to mention the
name of the Deity, when the charm that made himself
an unwilling horse would be broken. Michael told him
' See page 304.
MAKING THE DEVIL YOUR SLAVE. 297
to "ride on — "Ride you before you, you worthless
wretch (inarcaich thusa, bhiasd, romhad), and never
mind what the women said." They went at such a
height that there was snow on Michael's hat when he
disturbed the Pope in the early morning. In the hurry
the Pope came in with a lady's slipper on his left foot.
" You rode high last night, Michael," said the Pope.
Michael's reply called attention to the Pope's left foot.
" Conceal my secret and I will conceal yours," ^ said
the Pope, and to avoid the chance of being again
caught in a similar intrigue he gave Michael " the
knowledge of Shrovetide," viz., that it is always " the
first Tuesday of the spring light," i.e., of the new moon
in spring.
In Skye this adventure is ascribed to ' Parson Sir
Andro of Ruig ' in that island. He is said to have
started on his terrible journey from the top of the
Storr Rock, a" scene the wildness of which is singularly
appropriate to the legend. The Storr is a hill upwards
of 2000 feet high, and on its eastern side, from which
the parson must have set out for Rome, is precipitous,
as if the hill were half eaten away, and the weird
appearance of the scene is much increased by the
isolated and lofty pillars from which the hill derives its
name,^ standing in front. Not unfrequently banks of
l 'S ard mharcaich thu 'n raoir a Mhicheil. Seall air do chois chll. Ceil
orm 's ceilidh mi ort.
''■Fiacaill storach means a buck tooth.
2g8 THE DEVIL.
mist come rolling up against the face of the cliffs,
concealing the lower grounds, and giving a person
standing at the top of the precipices one of the most
magnificent views it is possible to conceive. He seems
to look down into bottomless space, and where the
mist in its motions becomes thin and the ground
appears dark through it, there is the appearance of a
profounder depth, a more awful abyss. The scene
gives a wildly poetical character to the legend of the
redoubtable parson and his unearthly steed.
COMING MISFORTUNE.
A part of the parish of the Ross of Mull is known
ecclesiastically as Kilviceuen {Cill-inhic-Eoghain, the
burying-place of the son of Hugh). Its ancient church
was of unhewn stone, and its last minister, previous
to its being united to Kilfinichen, was named Kennedy,
a native of Can tyre, an Episcopalian, in the reign of
Charles H. Tradition records that he came to his
death in the following manner.
His parishioners, about the end of spring, were
taking a new millstone from Port Bheathain on Squrra-
side to the mill, by means of a pole run through its
eye. The parson threw off his cassock, and assisted
them. The cassock was left where it was thrown off.
In the evening his wife sent a servant-maid for it.
The maid found, lying on the cassock, a large black
COMING MISFORTUNE. 299
dog, which would not allow her to touch the garment.
She came home without it, and refused to return. The
wife herself and another servant then went, were bitten
by the dog, and ultimately twelve persons, including
the minister, died of hydrophobia.
So shocking an event could not take place without
superstition busying itself about it. On Beltane night
shortly before the event, the minister's servant-man had
gone early to bed, while it was yet day. There was
"a large blazing fire of green osk" {beblach mhbr dhearg
de glas daracK) on the floor of the room, and he closed
and locked the door before going to bed. Through
the night he heard a noise as of some one feeling for
the lock and trying to open the door. He remained
quiet, thinking the noise was made by young men, who
came courting and had mistaken the door. Soon,
however, the door opened, and a person whom he did
not recognize entered. The stranger, without saying a
word, went and stood at the fire. When he turned
his back the servant observed that his feet were horse's
feet {spbgun eick). In a short time the apparition went
away, locking the door after it. The man rose and
went to an old man in great estimation for his piety,
who lived alone at Creag nan Con (the Dog Rock).
The old man's hut was a poor one, its door being made
of wicker work and of the form called sgiathalan. No
remonstrances could induce him to stay another night
in the minister's house, and it was arranged that he
30O THE DEVIL.
should sleep at the hut, and in the day time go to his
work at the manse. He told the sight he had seen,
and the good man inferred from the time of night at
which the devil had been seen that evil was near the
house. It was shortly after this that the dog went
mad, and the frightened servant was the only one of
the minister's household that escaped.
THE GAiiCK CATASTROPHE {Mort Ghathaig).
On the last night of last century^ a disastrous
casualty, in which six persons lost their lives, occurred
in the deer forest of Gai'ck in Badenoch. The wild
tract of mountain land, to which the name is given,
was not formally made into a deer forest till 1814, but
its loneliness made it a favourite haunt of wild game at
all times. There was not a house in the large extent
of near thirty square miles beyond a hut for the shelter
of hunters. Captain MacPherson of Ballychroan, an
officer in the army, with some friends and gillies were
passing the night of the 31st December, 1800, in this
hut, when an avalanche, or whirlwind, or some unusual
and destructive agency came upon them, and swept
before it the building and all its inmates. When
people came to look for the missing hunters they found
the hut levelled to the ground, and its fragments
scattered far and wide. The men's bodies were
'"A nollaig itiu dheire de'n cheiid
Cha chuir mi e'n aireamh na mias."
THE GA'iCK CATASTROPHE. 301
scattered over distances of half a mile from the hut ;
the barrels of their guns were twisted, and over all
there was a deep covering of snow, with here and three
a man's hand protruding through it. The whole
Highlands rang with the catastrophe, and it is still to
be heard of in the Hebrides as well as in the district in
which it occurred. Popular superstition constructed
upon it a wild tale of diabolical, agency.
Captain MacPherson was popularly known as " The
Black Officer of Ballychroan " {Ofhichier du Baile-
chrodhain). He is accused of being a '' dark savage "
man (dorcha doirbh), who had forsaken his wife and
children, and had rooms below his house, whence the
cries of people being tortured were heard by those
who passed the neighbourhood at night. About the
end of 1800 he was out among the Gaick hills with
a party of hunters, and passed the night in the hut
mentioned. Late at night strange noises were heard
about the house, and the roof was like to be knocked
in about the ears of the inmates. First came an un-
earthly slashing sound, and then a noise as if the
roof were being violently struck with a fishing rod.
The dogs cowered in terror about the men's feet.
The captain rose and went out, and one of his
attendants overheard him speaking to something, or
some one, that answered with the voice of a he-goat.
This being reproached him with the fewness of the
men he had brought with him, and the Black
302 THE DEVIL.
Officer promised to come next time with a greater
number.
Of the party who went on the next hunting ex-
pedition not one returned aHve. The servant who
said he had heard his master speaking to the devil
refused positively to be one of the party, neither
threats nor promises moved him, and others followed
his example. Only one of the previous party, a
Macfarlane from Rannoch, a good and pious man it
is said, went. It was observed that this day the
officer left his watch and keys at home, a thing he
had never been known to do before. Macfarlane's
body was not found on the same day with the rest.
It was carried further from the hut than the searchers
thought of looking, and a person who had found
before the body of one lost among the hills, was got
to look for his remains. There is a saying that if
a person finds a body once he is more apt to find
another. When the melancholy procession with the
dead bodies was on the way from the forest, even
the elements were not at peace, but indicated the
agency that had been at work. The day became
exceedingly boisterous with wind and rain, so much
so, when the Black Officer's body was foremost, that
the party was unable to move on, and the order had
to be changed.
Two songs at least were composed on the occasion.
One, strong in its praises of Captain MacPherson, will
THE GAICK CATASTROPHE. 303
be found in Duanaire, p. 1 3 ; the other, among other
things, says of him —
" The Black Officer of Ballychroan it was,
He turned his back on wife and children ;
Had he fallen in the wars in France,
The loss was not so lamentable."'
THE BUNDLE OF FERN.
A shepherd in Benderloch saw a large bundle of
ferns rolling down the hillside, and, in addition to the
downward motion given by the incline, it seemed to
have a motion of its own. It disappeared down a
waterfall. Of course this was Black Donald ; what
else could it be?
THE PIG IN THE INDIGO POT.
A former tenant of the farm of Holm, in Skye,
and his wife had gone to bed, leaving a large pot
full of indigo dye on the floor. The pig came in
and fell into the pot. The wife got up to see what
the noise was, and on looking into the pot saw the
green snout of a pig jerking out of the troubled
water. She roared out that the devil was in the pot.
Her husband shouted in return to put on the lid,
and jumping in great excitement out of bed, he threw
' ' ' Ofhichier du Bhaile-chrodhain a bh'ann,
Thrfig e a bhean 's a chlann
Nan do thuit e'n cath na Fraing,
Cha bhiodh an call co farranach."
304 THE DEVIL.
his weight on the lid to keep it down till the devil
was drowned. His wife was remarkable for always
commending what her husband did, and kept repeat-
ing, " Many a person you will confer a favour on this
night, Murdoch " {Is iomadh duine d'an dean thusa
feuin a nockd, a MhurchiadJt). At last the noise in
the pot subsided, and Murdoch nearly called up the
party he had sought to drown on finding it was his
own pig he had been so zealously destroying.
AMONG THE TAILORS.
It is a saying that the only trade that the devil
has been unable to learn is that of tailoring. The
reason is that when he went to try, every tailor left
the room, and having no one to instruct him, he
omitted to put a knot on the thread he began to
sew with. In consequence the thread always came
away with him, and he gave up the trade in despair.
It is presumed that he wanted to learn the trade to
make clothes for himself, as no one would undertake
the making of them.
TAGHAIRM, OR " GIVING HIS SUPPER TO THE
DEVIL."
The awful ceremony to which this name was given
was also known among old men as " giving his supper
to the devil." It consisted in roasting cats alive on
spits till the arch-fiend himself appeared in bodily shape.
''GIVING HIS SUPPER TO THE DEVIL.'' 305
He was compelled then to grant whatever wish the
persons who had the courage to perform the ceremony-
preferred, or, if that was the object of the magic rite, to
explain and answer whatever question was put to him.
Tradition in the West Highlands makes mention of
three instances of its performance, and it is a sort of
tribute to the fearless character of the actors that such
a rite should be ascribed to them. It was performed
by Allan the Cattle-lifter (Ailein nan creacK)^ at Dail-
a-chait (the Cats' Field), as it has since been called, in
Lochaber, and by Dun Lachlan {Lachunn odhar) in the
big barn at Pennygown {sabhal mbr Peigkinn-a-gkobkann),
in Mull. The details of these two ceremonies are so
exactly the same that there is reason to think they
must both be versions of an older legend. Nothing
appears to create a suspicion that the one account was
borrowed from the other. The third instance of its
performance was by some of the " children of Quithen "
[Clann 'ic Cuitken), a small sept in Skye, now absorbed,
as so many minor septs have been, into the great
family of the Macdonalds. The scene was a natural
cavity called the " Make-believe Cave " {an Eaglais
Bhreige), on East Side, Skye. There is the appearance
of an altar beside this church, and the locality accords well
with the alleged rite. The following is the Mull legend.
^ Allan was a native of Lochaber, the most notorious district in the High-
lands for cattle-lifters, and derived his name from having lifted a creach
' ' for every year of his life, and one for every quarter he was in his mother's
womb.'' He died at the age of 34.
U
3o6 THE DEVIL.
Lachlan Oiir and a companion, Allan, the son of
Hector {Ailein Mac Eachuinn) — some say he had two
companions — shut themselves up in the barn at Penny-
gown, on the Sound of Mull, and putting cats on spits
roasted them alive at a blazing fire. By-and-bye other
cats came in and joined in the horrible howling of those
being roasted, till at last the beams {sparrun an tighe)
were crowded with cats, and a concert of caterwauling
filled the house. The infernal noise almost daunted
Lachlan Oar, especially when the biggest of the cats
said, " When my brother the Ear of Melting comes — "
Allan the son of Hector did not allow the sentence to
be finished. " Away cat," he cried, and then added to
his companion, in an expression which has become
proverbial in the Highlands when telling a person to
attend to the work he has in hand, and never mind
what discouragements or temptations may come in his
way, " Whatever you see or hear, keep the cat turning"
{De sain bith a cht no chluinneas tu, cum an cat niun
cuairi). Dun Lachlan, recovering courage, said, " I will
wait for him yet, and his son too." At last the Ear of
Melting came among the other cats on the beams, and
said, while all the other cats kept silence, " Dun Lachlan,
son of Donald, son of Neil, that is bad treatment of a
cat " {Lachuinn uidhir 'ic Dhb'uill ic Neill, 's olc an
caramh cait sin). Allan to this called out as before,
" Whatever you see or hear, keep the cat turning," and
the fearful rite was proceeded with. At last the Ear
''GIVING HIS SUPPER TO THE DEVIL." 307
of Melting sprang to the floor and said, " Whomsoever
the Ear of Melting makes water upon will not see the
face of the Trinity" {Ge b'e co air a niidn Cluas a
Leoghaidh cha 'n fhaic e gmcis na Trianaid). " The
cross of the sword in your head, wretch ; your water is
sweat " {Crois a chlaidheamh a'd cheann, a bhiasd ; 's
tu mim fallals), answered Dun Lachlan, and he struck
the cat on the head with the hilt of his two-handed
sword. Immediately the devil, under the potent spell,
assumed his proper shape, and asked his wild sum-
moners what they wanted with him ? One asked
Conach 'us clann (" Prosperity and children "), and Dun
Lachlan asked " Property and prosperity, and a long
life to enjoy it " ( Cuid his conach, 'us saoghal fada na
cheann). The devil rushed out through the door crying,
" Prosperity ! Prosperity ! Prosperity ! " {^Conach !
Conach ! Conach f)
The two men obtained their desires, but were
obliged (some say) to repeat the taghairm every year
to keep the devil to the mark.
When Dun Lachlan was on his deathbed his nephew
came to see him, and in the hope of frightening the old
fellow into repentance, went through a stream near the
house and came in with his shoes full of water. " My
sister's son," said Lachlan, " why is there water in your
shoe ? " (a mhic mo pheathar, d arson tha began a' a
bhrolg?) The nephew then told that the two com-
panions who had been along with Lachlan in the
3o8 THE DEVIL.
performance of the taghairm, and who were both by this
time long dead, had met him near the house, and to
escape from them he had several times to cross the
running stream ; that they told him their position was
now in the bad place, and that they were waiting for
his uncle, who, if he did not repent, would have to go
along with them. The old man, on hearing this
melancholy message, said, " If I and my two com-
panions were there, and we had three short swords that
would neither bend nor break, there is not a devil in the
place but we would make a prisoner of "^ After this the
nephew gave up all hopes of leading him to repentance.
A native of the island of Coll and his wife came to
see him. Lachlan asked them what brought them ?
" To ask," said the Coll man, " a yoke of horses you
yourself got from the devil " {dh ' iarraidh seirreach each
fhuair thu fhein on douus). Lachlan refused this and
sent the man away, but he sent a person to overhear
what remarks the man and his wife might make after
leaving. The wife said, " What a wild eye the man
had? " {Nach b' fhiadhaich an t-snil bh'aig an duin 'ud?)
Her husband replied, " Do you suppose it would be an
eye of softness and not a soldier's eye, as should be ? "
{Saoil am bi suil an t-slauchdain, ach siiil an t-saighdeir
mar bu choir?) On this being reported to Lachlan, he
called the Coll man back and gave him what he wanted.
'Nambithinn fh'm 's mo dha chompanach ann, 's trigroilleineanagainn nach
tubadh's nach briseadh, cha bhiodh deamhan a stigh nach cuireamaidan IMmh.
''GIVING HIS SUPPER TO THE DEVIL:- 309
Martin, in his Description of the Western Islands,
p. 1 10, quoted by Scott {Lady of the Lake, note 2 t),
after describing a mode of Taghairm by taking a man
by the feet and arms to a boundary stream and
bumping him against the bank till little creatures
came from the sea to answer the question of which
the solution was sought, says : — " I had an account
from the most intelligent and judicious men in the
Isle of Skie, that about sixty-two years ago the oracle
was thus consulted only once, and that was in the
parish of Kilmartin, on the east side, by a wicked
and mischievous set of people, who are now extin-
guished, both root and branch." The Taghairm here
referred to seems to be that above-mentioned as
having been performed by the M'Quithens in the
Make-believe or False Cave on East Side, Skye. The
race have not borne a good reputation, if any value is
to be attached to a rhyme concerning them and
other minor septs in Skye : —
"The M'Cuthan, expert in lies.
The M'Quithens, expert in base flattery,
The M'Vannins, expert as thieves.
Though no bigger than a dagger handle." ^
1 There is a venom and an emphasis in the original impossible to con-
vey in a, translation.
" Clann 'ic Cuthain chuir nam briag,
Clann 'ic Cuithein chur an t-sodail,
Clann 'ic Mhannain chuir na braide
Ged nach b'fhaid aid na cas biodaig. "
3IO THE DEVJL.
Another method of Taghairm, described by Martin,
was by wrapping a person in a cow-hide, all but his
head, and leaving him all night in a remote and
lonely spot. Before morning his " invisible friends "
gave him a proper answer to the question in hand,
or, as Scott explains it, " whatever was impressed upon
him by his exalted imagination, passed for the in-
spiration of the disembodied spirits who haunt the
desolate recesses." This method of divination cannot
have been common ; at least the writer has been able
to find no trace of it.
As a third mode of Taghairm, Martin briefly de-
scribes that above detailed, viz., the roasting of a live
cat on a spit till at last a verj'^ large cat, attended
by a number of lesser cats, comes and answers the
question put to him.
Both Martin and Scott fall into the error of suppos-
ing that the object of the Taghairm was solely
divination, to ascertain the future, the issue of battles,
the fate of families, etc. The mode by roasting live
cats was too fearful a ceremony to be resorted to
except for adequate reasons, and the obtaining of
worldly prosperity, which was the object of the Mull
Taghairm, is a more likely reason than curiosity or
anxiety as to a future event.
The naming of the word Taghairm is not at first
sight obvious. There is no doubt about the last
.syllable being gairm, a call. Ta is probably the same
"■GIVING HIS SUPPER TO THE DEVIL." 311
root that appears in so many words, as tannasg,
taibhse, etc., denoting spectres, spirits, wraiths, etc., and
Taghairm means nothing else than the ' spirit-call,' in
fact, " the calling of spirits from the vasty deep."
GLAS GHAIRM POWER OF OPENING LOCKS.
This was a rhyme or incantation by which the
person possessing the knowledge of it could shut the
mouths of dogs and open locks. It was reckoned a
\rery useful gift for young men who went a-wooing.
Archibald, son of Murdoch, or, as he was also popu-
larly known, Archibald the Light-headed {Gileasbuig
Mhurchaidh, G. Eutront), who was about twenty years
ago a well-known character in Skye and its neigh-
bourhood, knew the charm, but when he repeated it
he spoke so fast that no one was able to learn it
from him, and as to his teaching of it to any one,
that was out of the question. Poor Archibald was
mad, and when roused was furiously so. He went
about the country attending markets and wherever
there was a gathering of people, and found every-
where open quarters throughout that hospitable island.
Indeed, it was not wise to contradict him. He had
a keen and ready wit, as numerous sayings ascribed
to him testify, and composed several songs of consider-
able merit The fear which dogs had of him, and
which made them crouch into corners on seeing him,
was commonly ascribed to his having the Glas Ghairm,
312 THE DEVIL.
but no doubt was owing to the latent madness which
his eyes betrayed, and of which dogs have an in-
stinctive and quicker perception than men. On their
offering the slightest sign of hostility, Archibald
would knock out their brains without as much as
looking at their masters.
The Glas Ghainn was supposed to be in some way
connected with the safety of Israel on the night before
the Exodus, " against any of the children of Israel
shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or
beast " (Ex. xi. 7).
INDEX.
( The figures refer to the page. )
Aibtieid (explained), 103
Alasdair Challum, tale of, 94
Alfs, II
Annat, 29
Apollo, 193
Arabian Nights' Entertainment, 132
Arasaig, 109, ff.
Ardnamurchan, 52, 55, 122, note ;
183, 226
Arrows (fairy), 26, 154
Association-craft (assistance of the
Folk), 98, 161
Augury, 250-257
omens, 251, 256, 257
outset of a journey, 253
unlucky animals, 254
unlucky to look back, 255
B
Bagpipes, 18
Bait-stone, 255, note
Baking, 232, 233
Banshee, 8, 22, 40, 44, 45, 51, 85,
107, 108, n8, 141
Barra, 59, 264
Bean-nighe (washing-woman), 42,43
Beanshith, 8, 42, 102-105, 152, 157,
161
Beetles, 227
Beinn Feall, 96
Beltane (first night of summer), 18,
151, 234, 249
Ben Lawers, 275
Ben Lomond fairies, 60
Ben-y-Ghloe, 29, 94 ; the wife of,
125, f:
Bernicle Goose, 221
Biasd na Grogaig, 217
Bible (a protection against fairies),
49. 168
Black Art, 285-288
Dog (see Macphie of Colonsay)
Donald, tale of, 68, 69
William the Piper, 65
Blue Men, 199, f.
Boat Language, 239
Breadalbane, 274
Bridge of Awe, tale from, 88, 89
Brownie, 157, 186-193, .'95. '96.
iq8
Cailleach, 243, 244
Caithness, 220
Galium, tale, 103
Galium Clark, tale, 60, 61
"Calum Clever," tale, 72
314
INDEX.
Cameron of Locheil, 122, note; 286,
287
Campbells, 177, 187, 227
Campbell's West Highland Tales,
29, note; 59, 75,116, 132, 190,
193
Leabhar na Feinne, 126, note
Cantyie, 117, 187
Carleton's Tales and Stories, 48, note
Carlin of the Spotted Hill, 122, 123
Carlin Wife, 28
Cats (fairy), 32
"Cauld Lad of Hilton," 188
Cere-doth, 241
Chailleach, 243
Changelings, 38, 39, 90-92
Childbed (customs), 36, 37, 80
Children (deformities attributed to
fairies), 39, 85
Clandonald, 117
Colkitto, 116
Coll, 69, 95, 96, 166, 208
Colonsay, no, ff.
Connan, 291
Cows (and fairies), 134, 135, 137
Craignish, 52, 57
Cremona, 139
D
Deer, 109, 126, 132, ff.
Deiseal (right-hand turn), 35, 229, f. ;
266
Devil, the, 289-312
Divination, 262-267
Dobhar (water), 217
Dogs (fairy), 30, 31, 109, 141, 144
(ordinary), 144-146, 191
Donald, son of John, 122, note
son of Patrick, 123, 124, 132
Dowart, 97
Dreams, 268
Druid, 193, 194
Duergar, 11
Duine sith (man of peace), 7i I0'>
note
Dundeacainn, 94
Dun Keneth, 272
Dunniquoich, 94
Du-sith (Black Elf) lOl, note
Edda, 220
Eddy wind, 24, 25
Eels, 221
Elfin {see Fairies), and i, note
Queen, 45
EUe Woman (see Bean shith)
Elves (see Fairies)
Emmet, 228
Euphemisms, 237
Ewen, tale of, 73
F
Fagail (parting gift), 44, 154
Fairies
assistance from, 96-100
belief in, i, 2
characteristics, 50, 51
churning, 137, 138
coming to houses, 73-76
defects, 15
dresses, 14, 15
dwellings, 11-14, note; 93-96
fallen angels, 199
festivities, 16, 18
food, 21
gifts, 22, 23, 153, 154
lifting by, 69-72
loan to, 58
Lowland, 76-78
metamorphosis, 109, 126, note
132. '33
INDEX.
315
Fairies
music, 138, 139
names given to, 3-9
occupations, 15, 16, 161
Pennygown, 59
protection against, 46, 49
raids, 92, 93
seen when, 21
size of, 9, II
stealing women and children, 78,
ff.
thefts by, 32, if.
Fallaid cake, 48, 232, 233
Fallen angels, 199, 283
Familiar spirit, 8, 41
Faroe Islands, 191
Ferintosh, 62
Finlay's Sandbank, tale of, 57, ff.
Flounder, 223
Folk, see fairies' names and, 1 1
Funerals, customs at, 241, f.
G
Gael, 139
Gaich catastrophe, 300, ff.
Gigelorum, 220
Glaisein, 190
Glaisrig [see Glaistig)
Glaistig, 44, 45, 146, note ; 155, ff.;
184, 190, 191
at Ardnadrochit, 175
at Baugh, 176
in Coll, 166
in Craignish, 173
at Dunolly, 166
Dunstaffnage C., 164
Garlios, 173, f.
Glenduror, 162
Glenorchy, 171
Hianish, 177
Inverawe House, 164
Glaistig
at lona, 179
at Mearnig C., 166
in Mull, 179, 180, 183
at Sleat, 165
at Sron-Charmaig, 162, i.
in Strathglass, 167
at Strontian, 177, f.
at Ulva, 178
Glas Ghairm, 311
Glencoe, 265
Graham's Highlands of Perthshire,
7. 198
Greenock, 6
Greogach (Gruagach)
Gruagach, 156, 157, 165, 184, ff.; 193
H
Hallowe'en, 61
Hallowmass, 18, 260
Hand mills (see Querns)
" Happy Hog"
Harris (district), 62, 136, 201, 222
Woman of, 66, f.
Harvest Maiden, 20
Hebrides, 6, 149, 199, 269
North, 14, 126, 199
Herring, 222
Highland Society s Dictionary, 157
Hinzelman, 191
Hobgoblin, 191
Horses, 30, 146-149
I
Imprecations, 277-281
Inveraray Castle, 54
Inverness-shire, 197
lona, 62, 93, 107
Ireland, 127
King of, 132, 133, 184
Iron (and fairies), 152, f.
3i6
INDEX.
Islay, tales from, 86, 87, 100, 112,
117, 119
Isle of Man, 190
J
Johnson, Dr., 186
Jura, 112, 114, 121
K
Keightley's Fairy Myth, 188, 190
Kelpie, the, 215
Kennavana, haunted by fairies, 78,
138, 141
Kennedy, tale of, 298, f.
King Otter (water-dog), 216
Knap {see M'Millan)
Kobold, 191
Labrador Indians, 90
Lachlan Oar, a tale of iaghairm,
306, ff.
Lady of Lawers, her prophecies,
274, f.
Lammas day, 234, 249
Lamprey, 219
Lar Familiaris, 191
Lares, 191
Largs, 76, 78
Lavallan, 220
Leannan sith (fairy sweetheart), 8,
41. 45. 195
Leg cake, 234
Leyden, 117, 118
Lobster, 223
Lochaber, 28, 52, 56, 122, note ;
123- 135
Loch Gruinard, tale of battle of, 100
Lorn, 123, 144, 162
Luran Black, tale of, 52-57
M
MacCallum, the hunter, 90
MacCodrums of the seals, 284
MacCrimmon, piper, 66, 138-141
MacCuaric (Kennedy), tale of, 168,
171
Macdonalds, 100 ■
of Keppoch, 286
MacDuffies (Macphies), 116
Mac-fir Arois, tale of, 205, ff.
Mac-Ian Year (Mac Iain Ghiarr),
tale of, 181, fif.
Mackenzie of Brahan, 286
M'Lear, tale of, 97, 98
Sir Lachlan Moir, 100, lOl,
note
Macleod (Clan), 269
Macleod's Fairy Banner, 5
Macleod of Macleod, 139
Macleods of Raasa, 57
of Skye, 5, 241
M'Millan of Knap, tale of, 172
MacNeill, Farquahar, 64
MacNeills, 264
Macphail (Macphie), 118
MacPherson, Captain {see Gaich
catastrophe)
Macphie of Colonsay, 109-122,
132
Magpie, 227
Maistir, 36, 49
Manadaireachid {sec Augury)
Martin's Description of the Western
/stands, 309
Men of Peace {see Sithche)
Mermaid, the, 201
Leyden's ballad, 117, 118
Merry Dancers {see Northern
Streamers)
Moidart, 109
INDEX.
317
Morvern, 72, So; 81, 98, 102, 103,
122, note; 135, 151, 173, 242
Mull, 15, 28, 42, 52, 59, 75, 80, 89,
97,99, loi, 103, 105, 120, 126,
133. 138, 14s. 152. 179. 180,
183, 208, 241, 264, 306
Murchard Mac Brian, 184
Murdoch, the Short, 264, f.
N
Names, 245
New- Year day, 234, f. ; 260
Niagruisar, 191
Nial Scrob, 69, 70
Nis, 191
Nix, 190
Norman, 274
Northern Streamers {Merry Dancers) ,
199. f-
O
Oatmeal, 150, ff.
O'Cronicert's Fairy Wife, 127, 133
Oisian, 44, 126, note
Oscar, 44
»
Ossian (see Oisian)
Palmistry, 266
Pearlwork, 49, 80, 241
Pennant's Tour, 193, 220
Pennygown fairies, 59
Perthshire, 30, 44, 74, 196, 198
Phynnodderee, 190
Pixies II
Pope, the, and Michael Scott, 297
Portree, 29, 30, 75, 99, 137, 139,
186
Premonitions, 258, ff.
Prophecies, 269-276
Protection against evil spirits, 247,
248
against fairies, 46-49
Querns (hand mills), 35, note, 149,
150
R
Raasay Water-Horse, 209
Rannoch, 71
Rats, 225
Red Book of B alloc h (see Lady of
Lawers)
Red Book of Appin, 292-295
Red-deer, 27, ff.
Red Donald, 7 1
Right-Hand-Turn (see Deiseal)
Road name, 245
S
Salt, 236
Schiehallion, 94
Scott, Sir Walter, 198
Michael, 285, 288, 295, 296
Seals, 283
Sea-serpent, 220
Serpents, 223, f.
Shetland Isles, 188^ 283
Shien-sloy, 94
Shoulder-blade Reading, 263-266
Shrovetide, 297
Siochaire, 7
Sireach, 7
Sith (peace), i, 3, 4> 5, 6, 7. 8, 9,
28, 29, 40, 41, 126
Sithbheire, 7
Sithche, 7, 40, 153
Sithchear, 7, 49
Siihein (fairies' dwelling) 11, 14,
note ; 94
Skip Jack, 228
3iS
INDEX.
Skye, 29, 30, 43, 52, 56, 67, 69, 75,
91, 96, 99, 126, 136, 137, 156,
165, 182, 184, 199, 201, 217,
244, 297, 303- 305
Speke, Captain, 254
Spells, 281-285
St. Bridget's Day, 225
St. Columba, 223
St. Elmo's light, 6
St. Fillan, 196
St. John's wort, 49, 103
Stirling, the Carse, 285
Suicides, 242
Superstitions about animals, 219-228
miscellaneous, 229-249
Sutherlandshire, 66
Taghairm ("spirit call"), 304-312
Tales of the West Highlands {see
Campbell)
TapuU House, 75
Tea, divination by, 266
Theft, 236
Thomas of Ercildoune (the Rhymer),
45, 269-272
Thunder, 235
Tiree, 6, 30, 42, 52, 55, 57, 69, 71,
76, 78, 83, 85, 87, 91, 93. loi,
105, 108, 109, 134, 135, 139,
141, 142, 150, 165, 189, 199,
239, 240. 241, 266
Tobermory, 63, 183
Toradh (benefit), 21, 32, 33, 48
Trial (Deuchainn, fridh), 259, 261
Trolls, II
"Trouble-the House" (Eachrais
iirlair), 282
Tutelary beings, 155-194
origin of the belief in, 192, 193
U
Uist, 136, 137, note
North, 284
Unimore, 190
Urisk, the, 195-199, 215
of Ben Loy, 196
Yellow-Waterfall, 197
W
Washing-woman [see Bean-nighe)
Water-Bull, 216
Water-Dog {see King Otter)
Water-Horse, 203-215
at Loch Cuaich, 210
at Tiree, 211, 214
Whale, 222
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